System and method for presenting and processing documents on the internet

Abstract

A digital document delivery system and method for providing to a user an electronic primary document with associated secondary documents. The secondary documents can have relative priorities and are based upon user preference data. An electronic inserter, bill processing server and interactive bill presentation server are used to make the primary and secondary documents available for viewing by a user via the user's web browser, as well as to allow the user to interrogate the system and to respond to the primary document, such as to pay an account due as stated in the primary document. The digital document delivery system and method also notifies the user of the existence of a primary and secondary documents for viewing.

1 . A digital document delivery system for presentation of electronic documents for user viewing electronically, wherein the digital document delivery system comprises: 
 A) an electronic inserter that generates an electronic print stream output with information to be presented to users of the system, said information containing information regarding at least one primary document and information concerning N secondary documents to be associated with the primary document, where N is an integer equal to or greater than zero;    B) a bill processing server communicating with the electronic inserter, wherein the bill processing server interacts with an associated account database for maintaining information concerning the primary document delivered to the user and any response from the user concerning said primary document; and    C) an interactive bill presentation server for receipt of the electronic print stream from the electronic inserter, for generating electronically viewable data corresponding to the primary document as well as for presenting electronic information related to any associated secondary documents, the interactive bill presentation server communicating with the bill processing server and with the user, including receipt of response information from the user for presentation to the bill processing server.    
     
     
         2 . A digital document delivery system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein each user has an electronic mail address and wherein the bill processing server informs a specific user that an electronic document is available for viewing by generating an electronic mail message directed to the specific user's electronic mail address.  
     
     
         3 . A digital document delivery system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the bill processing server further has means for generating report information concerning the daily activity of the electronic primary documents viewed by associated users, as well as any responses by those users.  
     
     
         4 . A digital document delivery system as defined in  claim 3 , wherein the bill processing server further comprises means for generating periodic data concerning the activities of the users for presentation to a third party institution.  
     
     
         5 . A digital document delivery system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the interactive bill presentation server generates the user viewable primary document and links to each associated secondary document information in hypertext markup language format.  
     
     
         6 . (Cancelled)  
     
     
         7 . (Cancelled)  
     
     
         8 . (Cancelled)  
     
     
         9 . (Cancelled)  
     
     
         10 . (Cancelled)  
     
     
         11 . A digital document delivery system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the bill processing server communicates with the electronic inserter via a router instruction processor, which in turn receives commands from the electronic inserter regarding documents to be deliverable to users and wherein the router instruction processor processes these commands and communicates these commands to the bill processing server.  
     
     
         12 . A digital document delivery system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the bill processing server further has means for generating a notification message directed to the user for informing the user of the existence of at least an electronic primary document for viewing by the user.  
     
     
         13 . A digital document delivery system as defined in  claim 12 , wherein the electronically viewable data generated by the interactive bill presentation server is in a form for viewing by a browser program.  
     
     
         14 . A method of delivering digital documents for presentation of electronic documents for user viewing electronically, comprising the steps of: 
 A) generating an electronic print stream output with information to be presented to users, said information containing information regarding at least one primary document and information concerning N secondary documents to be associated with the primary document, where N is an integer equal to or greater than zero;    B) interacting with an associated account database for maintaining information concerning the primary document delivered to the user and any response from the user concerning said primary document; and    C) receiving the electronic print stream for generating electronically viewable data corresponding to the primary document as well as for presenting electronic information related to any associated secondary documents, and communicating with the user, including receipt of response information from the user for modifying the account database.    
     
     
         15 . A method as defined in  claim 14 , wherein each user has an electronic mail address and wherein the method further comprises the step of informing a specific user that an electronic document is available for viewing by generating an electronic mail message directed to the specific user's electronic mail address.  
     
     
         16 . A method as defined in  claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises the step of generating report information concerning the daily activity of the electronic primary documents viewed by associated users, as well as any responses by those users.  
     
     
         17 . A method as defined in  claim 14 , wherein the electronically viewable data and the electronic information related to any associated secondary document is in hypertext markup language format.  
     
     
         18 . A method as claimed in  claim 14 , further comprising the step of generating a notification message directed to the user for informing the user of the existence of at least an electronic primary document for viewing by the user.  
     
     
         19 . A bill processing server for use in a digital document delivery system having a router instruction processor (RIP) for controlling via an electronic inserter, the generation of an electronic print stream for presentation to an associated interactive bill presentment server (IBPS), with the IBPS responsible for generating the print stream data in an electronic form for viewing primary and secondary documents by a customer, the bill processing server for further communicating with a database containing customer account information; comprising: 
 means for receiving bill requests from the RIP, said bill request containing bill data objects regarding the nature of an electronic bill primary document to be sent electronically over a network for viewing by the customer;    means for updating the database based upon the received bill data objects;    means for instructing the IBPS to generate an electronically viewable version of a primary document with N associated secondary documents, where N is an integer equal to or greater than zero; and    means for receipt of information from the IBPS concerning any customer responses so as to update the database.    
     
     
         20 . A bill processing server as defined in  claim 19 , further comprising means for generating a notification message for delivery to the customer so as to notify the customer of the existence of a primary document directed to the customer.  
     
     
         21 . A bill processing server as defined in  claim 19 , wherein the means for updating of the database includes means for updating information concerning when the customer has paid some or all of an outstanding balance.  
     
     
         22 . A bill processing server as defined in  claim 21 , wherein at least some of the data presented to the bill processing server from the IBPS includes customer information concerning when the customer has reviewed an associated bill directed to the customer.  
     
     
         23 . A bill processing server as defined in  claim 22 , further wherein the bill processing server communicates with the RIP to indicate that the bill processing server has successfully received the bill data object and has stored it in the account database.  
     
     
         24 . A bill processing server as defined in  claim 23 , wherein the bill processing server further has means for generating account information for submission to an associated payment processing system.  
     
     
         25 . A bill processing server as defined in  claim 19 , wherein the means for updating the database includes means for maintaining status information in said database with respect to customer interaction with the digital document delivery system.  
     
     
         26 . A bill processing server as defined in  claim 19 , further comprising means for maintaining status information concerning the digital document delivery system in said database.  
     
     
         27 . A bill processing server as defined in  claim 19 , wherein the means for instructing the IBPS to generate electronically viewable documents includes means for generating information regarding links to one or more secondary documents, said links to be positioned on the primary document.  
     
     
         28 . A method of controlling an account database containing information concerning customers' account balances associated with the delivery of electronic bills to the customers, comprising the steps of: 
 a) receiving a bill request containing bill data objects representative of the nature of a bill to be presented to a customer;    b) based upon the bill data objects, updating the data stored in the account database for that customer; and    c) receiving customer response information concerning the electronic bill delivered to the customer and based upon this response information, updating the account database for that customer.    
     
     
         29 . A bill processing method as defined in  claim 28 , further comprising the step of generating periodic reports concerning the status of the account database.  
     
     
         30 . A bill processing method as defined in  claim 29 , further comprising the step of generating links to secondary documents that are associated with a bill.  
     
     
         31 . A bill processing method as defined in  claim 30 , further comprising the step of notifying the customer of an existence of an electronic document to be viewed by the customer.  
     
     
         32 . A bill processing method as defined in  claim 31 , wherein the means for generating the notification to the customer is by electronic mail delivered to the electronic mail box associated with the customer.