Patent ID: 6587838
Filing Date: 2003-07-01
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
A system for providing real-time notification of purchaser requirements in a heterogeneous network environment, said heterogeneous network environment having a public packet switched network and a wireless network, said heterogeneous network environment comprising:a plurality of wireless terminals in communication with said wireless network to receive said real-time notification of purchaser requirements; at least one vendor computer, said vendor computer having at least one of a plurality of databases, including a product database having information about a plurality of products, and a customer database, having information about a plurality of customers; a plurality of client computers, said client computers and said vendor computer being interconnected by said public packet switched communications network; each one of said client computers being operatively disposed to present to a user a plurality of product options and services from which said user An make a selection and thereupon, responsive to user input indicating a particular product from a menu, providing product information including photographs, retrieved from said product database, and thereupon to receive from said user a selection and to prompt said user for user specific information, and thereupon to cause a purchase request to be transmitted to said vendor computer over said public packet switched communications network; said vendor computer being operatively disposed to analyze said purchase request to determine the product and proximity information of said user; said vendor computer being operatively disposed, based upon said proximity information, to select from said product database a plurality of selected vendors, each of said plurality of vendors being proximate to said user; said vendor computer being operatively disposed to determine a wireless region and account information associated with each of said plurality of selected vendors; said vendor computer being operatively disposed to cause information pertaining to said user to be recorded in said customer database; said vendor computer being operatively disposed to cause a message to be transmitted into said wireless network external to said public packet switched communications network, based upon said wireless region and account information, in order to provide said real time notification of purchaser requirements to said plurality of selected vendors; said vendor computer being operatively disposed to cause a confirmation message to be seat over said public packet switched network for display to said user, said confirmation message indicating that at least one of said plurality of selected vendors will contact said user in order to enter into a commercial transaction.