Patent ID: 6704039
Filing Date: 2004-03-09
Classification: G06Q,G07F,H04N

Abstract:
A computer-aided telecommunication system that would allow subscribers who are part of a subscriber database, who may be unskilled in computer operation, those not having available to them the necessary personal computer equipment to conduct real-time visual communication with others, and subscribers from personal computers and other personal electronic equipment having on-line access, to conduct a wide variety of telecommunication and financial transactions a cost that is relatively low when compared to communication and financial transaction alternatives, in addition to providing an option for subscribers to promptly and securely transfer money from one to the other during a visual communication with instant on-camera money transfer confirmation, other money transfer with e-mail/voice mail confirmation, purchase goods and services, obtain still and moving images of themselves and any other person participating in a visual communication, transfer written and pictorial information to others in the subscriber database, and conduct communication with customer service representatives about goods and services, said system comprising:an Internet website configured for visual and e-mail communication between subscribers who are part of a subscriber database and located remotely from one another; at least two privacy booths, each in a location accessible to those of said subscribers desiring to participate in real-time visual communications with remote ones of said subscribers, each of said privacy booths creating an area where audio and visual recordings can be made and having high resolution image display means adapted for showing said subscribers and any accompanying visual correspondents participating in a visual communication with remote participants, including both said subscribers and people accompanying said subscribers, a clear real-time image of the remote participants while they remain positioned within a distant one of said privacy booths; live image capture means adapted for digitizing images of said subscribers and said accompanying visual correspondents in one said privacy booth and transmission through said Internet website to the distant one of said privacy booths used by said remote participants; at least one microphone configured for capturing sounds made by said subscribers and accompanying visual correspondents and transmission through said Internet website to the distant one of said privacy booths used by said remote participants; components selected from a group consisting of telephones, telephones providing direct communication to remotely located customer service personnel and pneumatic tube transport systems and speaker means within each of said enclosed rooms adapted for projecting sounds made in the distant one of said privacy booths by said remote participants to said subscribers and said accompanying visual correspondents in said privacy booth, and wherein controls for said high resolution image display means, said live image capture means, said microphone, and said audio speakers in said privacy booth remain substantially inaccessible to subscribers and said accompanying visual correspondents to prevent malfunction and preserve optimum performance of said high resolution image display means, said live video capture means, said microphone, and said audio speakers; at least two control stations, at least one of said privacy booths being associated with each of said control stations, each of said control stations having a central processing unit with modem means for accessing said Internet website; scanner means electronically connected to said central processing unit for capturing and digitizing images of written and pictorial information for e-mail transfer from one subscriber to any of the subscribers in the subscriber database without said central processing unit maintaining a permanent record thereof; a computer keyboard electronically connected to said central processing unit; printer means electronically connected to said central processing unit for creating high resolution copies of written and pictorial information transferred to recipient subscribers by e-mail and which become promptly available to recipient subscribers when they reveal a uniquely assigned access code to said central processing unit through said keyboard, and also for printing still images of visual communication participants; fax means also electronically connected to said central processing unit for transmission of high resolution images of money receiving subscribers participating in a visual communication who receive a money sum by way of a bank voucher, as well as transmission of corresponding voucher information, to a bank selected by the money receiving subscriber so that representatives at the selected bank are able to readily confirm the identify the money receiving subscriber and know how much to pay the money receiving subscriber when the money receiving subscriber presents the voucher to the bank to claim the transferred money sum amount, the selected bank being one of several banks conveniently accessible from the one of said privacy booths in which the visual communication was conducted during which the money receiving subscriber received the bank voucher and which through prior arrangement has agreed to transfer money sums in exchange for such bank vouchers; video recording means electronically connected to said central processing unit for transferring to videotape without said central processing unit maintaining a permanent record thereof a copy of moving images of subscribers, remote subscribers, and other accompanying people captured during a visual communication for immediate delivery at the conclusion thereof to each participant of the visual communication requesting in advance a preserved copy of said images; and at least one electronic technician having skills for activating said central processing units, said modem means, said scanner means, said printer means, said fax means, and said video recording means to implement private and secure transfer of visual communication, money, recorded messages, and printed pictorial information between remotely located subscribers; and data transfer means between each of said privacy booths and a nearby one of said control stations for achieving electronic connection between said privacy booths and said control stations as well as two-way electronic data communication therebetween.