Telephone-based commerce system and method

Abstract

A speech application implements a telephone-based commerce system and method which complements a core payment processing business and influences banks and other key partners to conduct such electronic business and commerce. The speech application includes a speech driven telephone interface for consumer shopping and order placement of commodity items; a consumer registration interface and secure process that ties in a credit card, debit card, or bank account; and a build-your-own-voice-store web application which includes a voice user interface with interactive voice response tailoring each voice store within the speech framework of the present invention and an inventory database. Multi-currency services, permitting pricing or payment in any chosen currency, as well as multiple spoken language processing of voice inputs are supported for performing voice commerce over telephones.

1 . a voice commerce method comprising the steps of:
 obtaining a telephone number accessible through all telephonic means, such as wired telephone lines, cell phones, and VOIP, for the promotion of the sale of a single item or limited number of items of a product or service, and which could potentially be time sensitive such as tickets to a show, a concert, and a sporting event;   supporting that telephone number with a voice recognition system so that when a caller calls the telephone number to inquire about the goods or services being offered through it, the caller can conduct the entire transaction, including the purchase of and payment for the goods and services, through vocal responses using ordinary language;   converting the caller's vocal order to purchase goods and services to digital format and transmitting the digitally formatted payment information to a payment processor for the processing of the payment;   using a payment engine that has a payment processing program through which users can pre-enroll by providing pertinent personal and credit card data and by establishing a pre-arranged payment security verification such as a personal identification number or word and/or voice print recognition, for processing telephone-transmitted caller payment commands to pay for the vocal order of the caller;   offering the caller the option of paying for the goods or services in the vocal order using data in a pre-registered data store through which the caller has previously enrolled so that the caller can pay for the goods or services simply by stating in a vocal payment command using the telephone means that the caller has enrolled in the payment processing program and by the caller providing its pre-arranged payment security verification using the telephone means;   extracting data associated with the caller from a memory or from the data store to complete the transaction;   if the caller declines to use or has not enrolled in the payment processing program, offering the caller the option of paying for the goods or services of the vocal order orally using the telephone means by having the caller input the vocal payment command including a payment card number and appropriate verification, such as card security codes for payment cards;   if the payment is authorized by the payment processor, converting the caller's vocal order to purchase goods and services to digital format and transmitting the digitally formatted order to a fulfillment facility; and   fulfilling the order for the goods or services.   
     
     
         2 . A voice commerce method comprising the steps of:
 obtaining a telephone number accessible through all telephonic means, such as wired telephone lines, cell phones, and VOIP, through which the transaction for the sale of goods and services can be conducted;   supporting that telephone number with a voice recognition system so that when a caller calls the telephone number to inquire about the goods or services being offered through it, the caller can: (i) browse by voice command through a description of the goods and services being offered and their prices or (ii) locate the description and price of a specific good or service being sought by the caller by voice and/or by touch tone, and (iii) conduct the entire transaction, including the purchase of and payment for the goods and services, through spoken words using ordinary language;   converting the caller's spoken order to purchase goods and services to digital format and transmitting digitally formatted payment information to a payment processor for the processing of the payment;   using a payment engine that has a payment processing program through which users can pre-enroll by providing pertinent personal and credit card data and by establishing a pre-arranged payment security verification such as a personal identification number or word and/or voice print recognition, for processing telephone-transmitted caller payment commands to pay for the spoken order of the caller;   offering the caller the option of paying for the goods or services in the spoken order using data in a pre-registered data store through which the caller has previously enrolled so that the caller can pay for the goods or services simply by stating in a spoken payment command using the telephone means that the caller has enrolled in the payment processing program and by the caller providing its pre-arranged payment security verification using the telephone means;   extracting data associated with the caller from a memory or from the data store to complete the transaction;   if the caller declines to use or has not enrolled in the payment processing program, offering the caller the option of paying for the goods or services of the spoken order orally using the telephone means by having the caller input the spoken payment command including a payment card number and appropriate verification, such as card security numbers for payment cards;   if the payment is authorized by the payment processor, converting the caller's vocal order to purchase goods and services to digital format and transmitting the digitally formatted order to a fulfillment facility; and   fulfilling the order for the goods or services.   
     
     
         3 . A voice commerce portal comprising:
 means through which a caller can connect to any one of a variety of voice commerce systems implementing the method of  claim 1  upon being prompted to select a particular voice commerce system after calling the voice commerce portal.   
     
     
         4 . A voice commerce portal comprising:
 means through which a caller can connect to any one of a variety of voice commerce systems implementing the method of  claim 2  upon being prompted to select a particular voice commerce system after calling the voice commerce portal.   
     
     
         5 . A method of constructing a voice commerce system implementing the method of  claim 1  including the steps of:
 entering the appropriate typed and voice information via the Internet; and   building a voice store through a voice store building program.   
     
     
         6 . A method of constructing a voice commerce system implementing the method of  claim 2  including the steps of:
 entering the appropriate typed and voice information via the Internet; and   building a voice store through a voice store building program.   
     
     
         7 . A voice commerce system comprising:
 means for obtaining a telephone number accessible through all telephonic means, such as wired telephone lines, cell phones, and VOIP, for the promotion of the sale of a single item or limited number of items of a product or service, and which could potentially be time sensitive such as tickets to a show, a concert, and a sporting event;   a voice recognition system so that when a caller calls the telephone number to inquire about the goods or services being offered through it, the caller can conduct the entire transaction, including the purchase of and payment for the goods and services, through vocal responses using ordinary language;   means for converting the caller's vocal order to purchase goods and services to digital format and transmitting the digitally formatted payment information to a payment processor for the processing of the payment;   a payment processor that has a payment processing program through which users can pre-enroll by providing pertinent personal and credit card data and by establishing a pre-arranged payment security verification such as a personal identification number or word and/or voice print recognition, for processing telephone-transmitted caller payment commands to pay for the vocal order of the caller;   means for offering the caller the option of paying for the goods or services in the vocal order using data in a pre-registered data store through which the caller has previously enrolled so that the caller can pay for the goods or services simply by stating in a vocal payment command using the telephone means that the caller has enrolled in the payment processing program and by the caller providing its pre-arranged payment security verification using the telephone means;   means for processing a caller selection if the caller declines to use or has not enrolled in the payment processing program, offering the caller the option of paying for the goods or services of the vocal order orally using the telephone means by having the caller input the vocal payment command including a payment card number and appropriate verification, such as card security codes for payment cards;   means for extracting data from a memory or from the data store associated with the caller to complete the transaction;   means, responsive to authorization of payment by the payment processor, for converting the caller's vocal order to purchase goods and services to digital format and transmitting the digitally formatted order to a fulfillment facility; and   means for fulfilling the order for the goods or services.   
     
     
         8 . A voice commerce system comprising:
 means for obtaining a telephone number accessible through all telephonic means, such as wired telephone lines, cell phones, and VOIP, through which the transaction for the sale of goods and services can be conducted;   a voice recognition system so that when a caller calls the telephone number to inquire about the goods or services being offered through it, the caller can: (i) browse by voice command through a description of the goods and services being offered and their prices or (ii) locate the description and price of a specific good or service being sought by the caller by voice and/or by touch tone, and (iii) conduct the entire transaction, including the purchase of and payment for the goods and services, through spoken words using ordinary language;   means for converting the caller's spoken order to purchase goods and services to digital format and transmitting digitally formatted payment information to a payment processor for the processing of the payment;   a payment processor that has a payment processing program through which users can pre-enroll by providing pertinent personal and credit card data and by establishing a pre-arranged payment security verification such as a personal identification number or word and/or voice print recognition, for processing telephone-transmitted caller payment commands to pay for the spoken order of the caller;   means for offering the caller the option of paying for the goods or services in the spoken order using data in a pre-registered data store through which the caller has previously enrolled so that the caller can pay for the goods or services simply by stating in a spoken payment command using the telephone means that the caller has enrolled in the payment processing program and by the caller providing its pre-arranged payment security verification using the telephone means;   extracting data from a memory or from the data store associated with the caller to complete the transaction;   means for processing a caller selection if the caller declines to use or has not enrolled in the payment processing program, offering the caller the option of paying for the goods or services of the spoken order orally using the telephone means by having the caller input the spoken payment command including a payment card number and appropriate verification, such as card security codes for payment cards;   means, responsive to an authorization of payment by the payment processor, for converting the caller's vocal order to purchase goods and services to digital format and transmitting the digitally formatted order to a fulfillment facility; and   means for fulfilling the order for the goods or services.   
     
     
         9 . The voice commerce method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of supporting includes the step of:
 locating a description and price of goods or services using a product code entered by voice by the caller.   
     
     
         10 . The voice commerce method of  claim 2 , wherein the step (ii) of locating the description and price includes the step of:
 locating the description and price using a product code entered by voice by the caller and/or by touch tone.   
     
     
         11 . The voice commerce portal of  claim 3 , wherein the step of supporting includes the step of:
 locating a description and price of goods or services using a product code entered by voice by the caller and/or by touch tone.   
     
     
         12 . The voice commerce portal of  claim 4 , wherein the step (ii) of locating the description and price includes the step of:
 locating the description and price using a product code entered by voice by the caller and/or by touch tone.   
     
     
         13 . The method of constructing a voice commerce system of  claim 5 , wherein the step of supporting includes the step of:
 locating a description and price of goods or services using a product code entered by voice by the caller and/or by touch tone.   
     
     
         14 . The method of constructing a voice commerce system of  claim 6 , wherein the step (ii) of locating the description and price includes the step of:
 locating the description and price using a product code entered by voice by the caller and/or by touch tone.   
     
     
         15 . The voice commerce system of  claim 7 , wherein the step of supporting includes the step of:
 locating a description and price of goods or services using a product code entered by voice by the caller.   
     
     
         16 . The voice commerce system of  claim 8 , wherein the step (ii) of locating the description and price includes the step of:
 locating the description and price using a product code entered by voice by the caller.   
     
     
         17 . The voice commerce method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 conducting all telephone activities with a caller-selected spoken language.   
     
     
         18 . The voice commerce method of  claim 2 , further comprising the step of:
 conducting all telephone activities with a caller-selected spoken language.   
     
     
         19 . The voice commerce portal of  claim 3 , further comprising the step of:
 conducting all telephone activities with a caller-selected spoken language.   
     
     
         20 . The voice commerce portal of  claim 4 , further comprising the step of:
 conducting all telephone activities with a caller-selected spoken language.   
     
     
         21 . The method of constructing a voice commerce system of  claim 5 , further comprising the step of:
 conducting all telephone activities with a caller-selected spoken language.   
     
     
         22 . The method of constructing a voice commerce system of  claim 6 , further comprising the step of:
 conducting all telephone activities with a caller-selected spoken language.   
     
     
         23 . The voice commerce system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 means for conducting all telephone activities with a caller-selected spoken language.   
     
     
         24 . The voice commerce system of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 means for conducting all telephone activities with a caller-selected spoken language.   
     
     
         25 . The voice commerce method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 completing the transaction in a currency selected by the purchaser if the purchaser elects to conduct the transaction in a currency that differs from that of the merchant.   
     
     
         26 . The voice commerce method of  claim 25 , wherein the completion of the transaction includes using multi-currency services. 
     
     
         27 . The voice commerce method of  claim 25 , wherein the completion of the transaction includes using dynamic currency conversion. 
     
     
         28 . The voice commerce method of  claim 25 , wherein the completion of the transaction is performed at the time of sale. 
     
     
         29 . The voice commerce method of  claim 25 , wherein the completion of the transaction provides convenience in obtaining pricing or allowing payment in a caller-selected currency. 
     
     
         30 . The voice commerce method of  claim 25 , wherein the completion of the transaction provides convenience of obtaining pricing or allowing payment in a caller-selected currency selected from the group consisting of:
 a default currency pre-selected by the caller prior to the shopping transaction;   a currency selected by the caller after prompting the caller to make a choice, with the currency conversion rate determined at a predetermined price point;   a currency selected by the caller after prompting the caller to make a choice, with the currency conversion rate determined from a currency rate feed;   a currency determined, for a non-pre-registered and non-authenticated caller, from the geographic location of the caller at the time of payment.   
     
     
         31 . The voice commerce method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 registering the caller to set a preferred spoken language for conducting all voice transactions with the caller.   
     
     
         32 . The voice commerce method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 registering the caller to set a preferred currency for conducting all payment transactions with the caller.