Computer system

A method of conducting a telephone or internet based reverse auction for selling units where the reverse auction is transmitted to users on a medium, the method comprising the steps of providing a number of units for sale and storing a preliminary available quantity in an allocation database initially indicative of the number provided for sale, providing a telephone number or web site to which calls or orders from users can be placed to enter the reverse auction, recording the time at which one or more calls or orders were received on the telephone number or at the website in a record database, placing any callers into a queue and assigning them to a call operator or system in order to sell a unit, conducting a reverse auction in which a person or system reduces the indicated price of a unit over time and in which a producer or system reduces the preliminary available quantity, the reverse auction is concluded at the time of the preliminary available quantity is reduced to a pre-determined number, such as zero, with the price at the conclusion being stored in an auction database, wherein the preliminary available quantity is reduced based at least partly on one or more preliminary indicators associated with a call/user, such as the time of the acceptance of the call or order in the record versus the timing of the auction, which indicator(s) occur before a sale of a unit is completed/confirmed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority to United Kingdom patent application no. GB 0615378.7, filed Aug. 3, 2006, the content of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for conducting auctions and in particular reverse auctions by telephone and/or television and Internet.

BACKGROUND & SUMMARY

It is known to attempt to sell goods using television or other media. This is typically done by showing a product on television with an accompanying price. The goods seller will then allow anyone to call in by telephone and to make a purchase of the product which is displayed on television. Such systems can either allow the user to telephone in at any time, or may only allow them to call in and order whilst it is on screen. The former system has a disadvantage that there is no time incentive for a person to ring and they can easily watch through several products being sold before deciding whether to buy. The second system helps give an incentive for someone to telephone in immediately to buy a product, but it suffers the disadvantage that only a certain number of calls can be processed during the time in which the product is on screen and therefore both television broadcasts spectrum capacity and telephone network capacity must be simultaneously consumed for the entire time for which it is desired to sell a single product. This is technically inefficient.

It is also known in the UK to attempt to conduct auctions having non-fixed prices on television. This brings an advantage of a timing incentive when people ring. However, these suffer the disadvantage that a user going through the order, buying and registration process takes considerable time to do so and therefore consumes telephone network capacity. Since it is necessary for the entire auction process to be televised, the slowness of completing each sale slows the auction and hence consumes a large amount of television network capacity. One alternative to this is to only allow pre-registered users to play therefore speeding up the timing of the auction. This alternative has the disadvantage that non-registered users cannot take part in the auction.

Another type of auction is a reverse auction. Implementing this onto television screens will be problematic because the auction ends only after all units have been purchased. The final price is set when the final unit sells, sometimes being the same for all winning participants. This is problematic since it cannot be determined whether a unit has been allocated until after someone goes through the registration and buying procedure. Accordingly it takes a significant length of time when using a medium such as television which leads to inefficient usage of capacity.

Even when sales on television go onto the next unit before all the ordering is finished they cannot use the same telephone number as for the previous product. This is because the telephone number is used to distinguish between products and therefore those ringing a certain telephone number will be assumed to be buying a certain product. Changing the product that corresponds to the telephone number midway through ordering can cause confusion as to which product the user is attempting to buy.

It is also problematic to keep control of the numbers of units being sold versus the amount in stock. It is relatively easy with known auction systems to oversell products. It is also quite possible to undersell products. In these circumstances products are inefficiently left unsold within the desired television and telephone network capacity usage, even though there may be other people attempting to take part in the auction who might be interested in buying them. In order to get round this problem it is necessary to keep a continuous monitor on each call so that if a call eventually leads to a sale, it can be known that that caller should not be targeted for reselling unsold products. This is technically inefficient and expensive as each call must be monitored throughout its time and all details for each call stored in a single database entry.

It is also known to sell products over the Internet but such users do not get the interactive descriptions of products that accompany television selling.

It is an object of the present disclosure to mitigate some of the problems mentioned above. It is also an object by technical solutions to some of the technical problems mentioned above to enable a more efficient system to be used.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure there is provided a method of conducting a telephone based reverse auction for selling units where the reverse auction is transmitted to users on a medium, the method comprising the steps of providing a number of units for sale and storing a preliminary available quantity in an allocation database initially indicative of the number provided for sale, providing a telephone number to which calls from callers can be placed to enter the reverse auction, recording the time at which one or more calls were received on the telephone number in a call record in a call database, placing each caller into a queue and assigning them to a call operator or system in order to sell a unit, conducting a reverse auction in which a person or system reduces the indicated price of a unit over time and in which a producer or system reduces the preliminary available quantity, the reverse auction is concluded at the time of the preliminary available quantity is reduced to a pre-determined number, such as zero, with the price at the conclusion being stored in an auction database, wherein the preliminary available quantity is reduced based at least partly on one or more preliminary indicators associated with a call/caller, such as the time of the acceptance of the call in the call record versus the timing of the auction, which indicator(s) occur before a sale of a unit is completed/confirmed.

According to a second aspect of the disclosure there is provided a computer system for conducting a reverse auction of units, the system comprising a processor, a memory including an allocation database, an auction database, and a call database, a telephony system, a display, the allocation database containing a preliminary available quantity indicative of the number of units provided in an auction, the telephony system being configured to record the time at which a call is received and the number which was dialled in a call record in the call database, and configured to place each caller into a queue assigning them to a call operator or system in order to sell a unit, the processor configured to display a price on the display and to reduce the displayed price over time and to reduce the preliminary available quantity, and to determine when the preliminary available quantity is reduced to a pre-determined number, such as zero, to store the displayed price at that time in the auction database, and to prevent new telephone call to the telephony system being entered into the auction wherein the system reduces the preliminary available quantity based at least partly on one or more preliminary indicators associated with a call/caller, such as the time of the acceptance of the call in the call record versus the timing of the auction, which indicators occur before a sale of a unit is finalised.

According to a third aspect of the disclosure there is provided a method of selling units on television by reverse auction comprising the steps of displaying a unit for sale on television along with an initial price and the number of the units available for sale in the auction, allowing telephone calls to be made to take part in the auction, the displayed available quantity being reduced when it is believed a caller has given sufficient indications that a sale is likely or has occurred, reducing the displayed price for the unit to encourage more callers to reduce the television time taken up by the auction and concluding the auction when the displayed available quantity reaches zero.

According to a fourth aspect of the disclosure there is provided a method of conducting an internet based reverse auction for selling units where the reverse auction is transmitted to users on a medium, the method comprising the steps of providing a number of units for sale and storing a preliminary available quantity in an allocation database initially indicative of the number provided for sale, providing a website purchasing facility to which orders from users can be placed to enter the reverse auction, recording the time at which one or more orders were received on the telephone number in a call record in a call database, placing each caller into a queue and assigning them to a call operator or system in order to sell a unit, conducting a reverse auction in which a person or system reduces the indicated price of a unit over time and in which a producer or system reduces the preliminary available quantity, the reverse auction is concluded at the time of the preliminary available quantity is reduced to a pre-determined number, such as zero, with the price at the conclusion being stored in an auction database, wherein the preliminary available quantity is reduced based at least partly on one or more preliminary indicators associated with a call/caller, such as the time of the acceptance of the order in the call record versus the timing of the auction, which indicator(s) may occur before a sale of a unit is completed/confirmed.

In one embodiment, the order in which calls are put through to the call operator or system is dependent on the stored time on the call record and/or wherein the price at which a unit is sold is determined from the price at the conclusion stored in the auction database.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise the step of prompting each caller to enter a piece of data, optionally before entering them into the queue, and storing that data on the call record. The call may be placed into the queue is dependent on the data entered and/or one preliminary indicator comprises the data entered and is stored in the call record and/or one preliminary indicator comprises the time that the data is entered and stored in the call record.

In one embodiment, the prompting step prompts the user to enter a number on their telephone and where one or more numbers may be taken as a preliminary indicator and zero, one or more numbers are taken to not be a preliminary indicator.

In one embodiment, the number of units provided and a final allocation is also stored in the allocation database, the final allocation is increased whenever a final sale is completed, the system determining whether a sale can be made by determining if the allocation is still below the numbers of units provided. In another embodiment, the method comprises the step of checking that a preliminary indicator corresponding to that call has already resulted in a reduction of the preliminary availability and if not reducing the preliminary available quantity, whenever the final allocation is increased in response to the allocation increase and/or the step of generating an order record whenever a sale is confirmed, the order record including payment details.

In one embodiment, both registered and unregistered callers may take part in the auction.

In one embodiment, the method includes the step of determining the telephone number from which a call has been made and comparing this to a customer database of registered users, where the comparison provides a match allocating the stored customer details to the caller and/or the step of storing events such as preliminary indicators, initial and final price and/or number sold in a game database. In another embodiment, if there is no match the call operator or system selling the unit to the caller takes details of the caller and enters them along with their telephone number into the customer database for future use and/or events associated with an individual caller are stored in the game database linked to that caller such as in the call database or the customer database, and wherein previously stored data may be recalled when a caller is identified and/or one preliminary indicator comprises a comparison of one or more events in the auction with historical events in the game database and/or wherein one preliminary indicator comprises an identified callers stored events in the game database such as where a caller is found to have high/frequent historical spending patterns.

In one embodiment, in the event of there being more callers giving preliminary indicators than available units, the callers with the earlier times on their call record are sold the units or the callers who gave appropriate preliminary indicators are sold the units and when there are more callers who gave the appropriate preliminary indicator than there are available units, the callers who gave the appropriate indicator and have the earlier stored time are sold the units.

In one embodiment, where the product that was part of the auction at the time the caller called is also stored in the call database and when put through to the operator or system the unit offered for sale to them is determined from the stored product in the call record. In another embodiment, the auction is used to sell a different product and the different product is stored in the call database for a new caller after the preliminary available quantity has dropped to the predetermined number, in one embodiment, before the completion of all sales or before any increase in the final allocation, and the same telephone number may be provided for calls from callers, including the new caller, to be placed to enter the reverse auction for the different product as was provided for the first product.

In one embodiment, one of the numbers constitutes confirmation of an intent to buy the product in the auction. In another embodiment, the preliminary available quantity will not be reduced unless the correct number of the keypad has been pressed by a caller or the caller subsequently went on to place an order.

In one embodiment, orders can be placed by internet as well as by telephone. In another embodiment, the auction is transmitted over the internet and also maybe be transmitted by another medium such as television and/or the act of a user notifying intent to buy an auction unit on the internet such as by placing it in a shopping cart may comprise a preliminary indicator and/or may result in the final allocation being increased.

In one embodiment, one or more callers who were unsuccessful in the auction are called back after the auction using their determined telephone number to make a further sale or to have details taken. In another embodiment, callers are called back or not called back based on one or more preliminary indicator corresponding to their call during the auction and/or one or more callers who were unsuccessful in the auction are identified by matching call records to order records and removing those that match, from a list to be called back and//or the order records are matched to call records by generating a unique number for each call and storing this in both records.

In one embodiment, the order records are matched to call records by matching the order record to data in the customer database and using the stored telephone number in the customer database corresponding to that data to match the data with a call record in which that telephone number was recorded, and then tagging that call record to the order record.

In one embodiment, the steps of a person or a system requesting a reduction in the preliminary available quantity and determining whether the request reduction can be made by comparing the requested reduction with a maximum possible sold quantity and not allowing a reduction in number which would reduce the available preliminary quantity to a number below the starting value less the maximum possible sold quantity. In one embodiment, the reduction requested would reduce the preliminary quantity to below the maximum possible sold quantity, the quantity is instead reduced to the starting value less the maximum possible sold quantity and/or the maximum value is calculated by adding together the total number of calls received with any website orders and/or any additional units bought by a caller who has gone through the sales process

In one embodiment, the price is frozen once the displayed available quantity has reached zero and all the units in the auction are sold at the frozen price and/or comprising the step providing information concerning the auction on a website substantially simultaneously as on television and allow entries into the auction to be made from the internet.

Embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring toFIG. 1there is shown a system10comprising central computer system12; a call receiver14, a communication application monitor16, call centre18, a web site20, a game database22, a television producer24, broadcast graphics components/computer26and a delivery system28. Components14through28arguably could in alternative embodiment form part of the computer system12. The call communication application16can monitor the call receiver14and call centre18. The call receiver14is also in communication with the call centre18.

The computer system12comprises various databases and a processor13. It includes call database30in which are stored call records32, a telephone look up system34, a customer database36which includes customer records37, an order database38including order records40, and a product database42including product allocation44.

The call receiver14is able to take calls from a switchboard, such receipt of calls being monitored by the communication monitor application16, which calls may eventually be put through by computer system12to the call centre18. The call retriever14is in communication with the call database30, whilst the call centre18is in communication with both the call database30and order database38.

The order database38and the product database42are in communication with the delivery system28.

InFIG. 2is shown a call record32in more detail. It can be seen that the call record has a series of categories into which data can be entered. In effect these are fields in a database entry. The fields are date reference102, call ID104, calling number106, received110, TimeIn112, answered114, cleared116, product ID118, PriceIn120, channel122and extension124.

The date reference102includes data which relates to the time and date that the call was first received by call receiver14. The call receiver14stamps each call and marks it in the newly created call record32. The call ID104is an identifying number given to that particular call. This could be a unique number for each call record32or can be used as a unique identifier for the call record32when combined with the date reference102. For example it can be provided by a rolling number generator which has a set number of digits, such as 4 digits which moves forward sequentially to the next number every time a new call record facility is created. Whilst eventually the set number of digits will roll back to zero by combining the identifying number in the caller ID104, together with date reference102, each call can be uniquely identified. This requires the number of total calls taken within the shortest time period recorded in date reference102to be smaller than the total number of integers available in the caller ID104. For example it may be that date reference102includes the second the call came in and caller ID104is 4 digits. Since there will never be more than 9,999 calls per second in system10each call record32can be uniquely identified using date reference102and call ID104.

Calling number106is a unique identifier of the telephone number from which the caller is calling. This can be obtained from the telephone provider in many cases automatically. In the UK for instance this is done by a system known as caller line identification and has a CLID or caller line identifier associated with it. Other countries may use a system called ANI or automatic number identification which has a similar effect as far as this disclosure is concerned. In some countries and/or conditions the provision of CLID may not be guaranteed, for example it may be withholdable by the caller. Partly for this reason the system10may use the CallID field104to identify the call record32.

Received field110stores the date and time the call was received and therefore mimics the date reference102field. It can contain additional information such as giving the time in more detail than the date reference102(e.g. milliseconds rather than seconds). Date reference102is primarily used in conjunction with CallID104to provide unique identification and therefore need not record the time to any more detail than the time period taken for the rolling Call ID counter to return to zero. For those reason the received field is used when attempting to determine which of two callers was the earlier to call.

TimeIn112contains the time and date the call monitoring component16detects that the caller presses a number 1 on the keypad of their phone, which transfers the call to the sales queue for call centre18. The answered field114contains the date and time that the call was answered by call centre18whilst cleared116stores the date and time that the link to the telephone was ended whether at the end of a sale or by premature termination by the customer. Product ID118contains a product code of the product that was on screen at the time corresponding the entry in the date reference102.

The product code can uniquely identify which product was on screen and therefore which product the customer is attempting to buy. The PriceIn field120contains the active price for the unit on screen at the time the call was received, i.e. the received reference110. Channel122stores the channel that the caller was watching, in embodiments in which the auctions are held over more than one television channel, determined by the number the user dialled. For example system10may include 3 different television channels, each of which is provided with a separate telephone number. By detecting the telephone number to which calls to call receiver14are made it is possible to determine which channel and date they were watching and therefore which auction they are taking part in.

Lastly extension field124stores the answering extension number that the call has been referred in the call centre18. This will only be created after the call has been answered, at the same time as the answer field114is populated.

Use of website20by a web user will result in the creation of a record in a database with fields which, where appropriate, correspond to those of call record32. These records may be stored in a separate database or in the call database30.

Referring toFIG. 3athere is shown an example of an order record40. The order record40contains fields and acts as an entry in a database. The order record40contains the fields of customer name202, address204, telephone number206, product code208, additional products210payment details212, price214and possibly corresponding call ID in date reference216.

The product code208is filled by the communication monitoring system16by determining the product code in the call record32corresponding to the order record40. However this may be changed by the call centre18if the details are found to be incorrect. The data for the telephone number field206may be provided by monitoring component16and confirmed by the caller from the CLID or may be taken by the call centre operative at the call centre18when conversing with the caller. The address204and customer name202fields are either successful provided from a customer record37or are taken by an operative of the call centre18. The provision of the additional products field210allows the system10to sell products that are supplementary to the unit being auctioned e.g. a case and/or a gift box for the auctioned product.

Price field214may be filled by system10by determining the currently displayed price of the item being auctioned or from PriceIn120, or from the final price of the auction, stored in game database22.

Corresponding call ID field216can be filled with the data from call ID field104and date reference102of the corresponding call record32.

Referring toFIG. 3bthere is shown an entry in the customer database36. The record37includes the fields of customer name222, address224, one or more telephone numbers226,228,229and reference number227.

InFIGS. 4-1to4-4there is shown a process of a reverse auction being conducted. The process starts at step S300. A TV producer24may be a person or could be an automated computer following certain predetermined algorithms. It could also be a combination of the two with automated algorithms which can be overridden by an individual person.

At step S302the TV producer24enters a product code for a chosen product. This may be from a predetermined product order list80which has been developed to represent the preferred schedule for the day or maybe another arbitrary code. Next at step S304the computer system12recalls information regarding this chosen product from the product database42and sends these necessary details to the game database22and on to the broadcast graphics computer26. As well as details of the product itself, the details of previous games using this product are also provided. These will display to the TV producer24how well the product sold and at what times. This will allow the TV producer24, whether automated or a person, to determine when and how the product should sell. This information can be drawn from the product database42including its product allocation44and also from past history of games stored in the game database22.

Next at step306the computer system12questions the TV producer24about whether they want to start this game. If the TV producer looks at the previous history and decides it is not suitable for this particular time and therefore decides “no” the process will return to S302. If the producer24decides “yes” then the process continues to step S308.

At step S308the TV producer24enters the name of the TV presenter and their own name if the TV producer is a person, and the starting quantity of units. The game is then started at step S312. All of this entered information at step S308and at S310is then entered into historical records in game database22for future recall at step S304when the process is repeated.

Certain game graphics will then be generated for viewing by the producer24, a television presenter and possibly by the public on television at step S314. This can include unit statistics and data sheets at step S318. The graphics shown by broadcast graphics computer26are changed by sending data strings to the graphics device and invoking pre written templates.

Once the game starts the call monitoring device16will monitor incoming calls and allow TV producer24to see the necessary and/or useful information regarding those calls. This also allows for ad hoc graphical messages at step320to be broadcast using broadcast graphics26. These may regard what is currently happening with the current calls and be used to stimulate further demand by, for instance, allowing callers' or web users' names to be broadcast on television when they are making significant calls to acknowledge their contribution and to make people feel that the units are in demand. Other such point-of-sale messages may be broadcast.

Activities at the call receiver14and call centre18which affect what information is sent to the TV producer24occur simultaneously with step S316. These are depicted inFIGS. 4-1to4-4in a separate box with steps S400through step S408.

At first the call is received at step S400, a new call record32is created and the date reference102, CallID104, calling number106, and received110fields are completed. The arrival of a call is also notified to the TV producer24such as in the form of a display list of each new call and possibly its date reference102.

Next a caller is greeted with an automatic message asking them to press 1 to place an order, 2 for customer services or 3 to chase delivery or other such call routing mechanism.

When they press 1 at step S402the monitor component16puts them into a sales queue for the call centre18. The TimeIn field112is also completed. Step S402is also signalled to the TV producer such as by changing the colour of the call details on the displayed list from red to green.

System12also looks at the caller line identifier CLID of the caller and uses this to attempt to look up the details of the caller. This is done via telephone number look up component34and customer database36. The CLID, such as in calling No104, is compared against telephone look up table34. If a match is found the telephone look up table will then give a reference corresponding to Reference Number227in a customer record37. The name and town of the customer from fields222and224are sent to the TV producer24adding extra detail to the call on the displayed list. The producer does not see or access the CLID directly but does see the located information. System12may also gather information from any historical order records40that have been linked to that particular customer record32and display this to the TV producer24allowing the producer to view a caller's previous buying habits.

The TV producer may display some of the information provided using broadcast graphics26to the television presenter or to the watching public. This allows a potential bid in a reverse auction from a known user to be placed on the television allowing them to feel like a more active participant.

The use of a separate telephone look up system34rather than searching directly in the customer database36enables the system to cope with multiple telephone numbers and multiple users of the same telephone number. Whilst the customer database36will have a plurality of records32each of which may have several, possibly overlapping, telephone numbers entered, the telephone look up system34will only allow one name against each telephone number. Commonly this will be taken as the most recent caller to successfully make a purchase from that number. Accordingly it can match this unique number in a system against one particular reference number and look up the name of the person with the corresponding reference number277from the customer database36.

Calls are put into the sales queue in the order which they are received, i.e. in order of the received reference112, then in turn they are allocated to an extension number in call centre18. When a call is answered at step S404by an operative in the call centre18the call monitoring application16keeps note of which call number (callID104possibly in combination with date reference102), is with which extension number. The answered114and extension field124in the call record32are filled with the time and answering extension respectively.

The next steps may be a confirmed purchase at step S408and then finally the call being cleared at S410. The two steps S408and S410lead to the cleared field116in the call record32being filled. The confirmation of a purchase at step S406is signalled to the TV producer possibly by changing the colour from green or red to blue.

The TV producer24is given various information during this monitoring process including the details of some callers that have been identified, numbers of calls received, which of those callers have pressed 1, which of those have been answered and which have gone through to a confirmed process. These all constitute preliminary indicators that a sale of a unit and eventual finalised allocation to a user is likely. The TV producer24can either automatically use these preliminary indicators of sale (or in the case of confirmed purchase confirmed indicator of sale), or a human TV producer24can do so manually. Based on one or more preliminary indicator the TV producer24may then proceed to step S322or step S324.

When the TV producer24does not believe that enough calls have been received or that enough products are being sold, the TV producer is likely to proceed to step S322. At this point the TV producer23enters a reduction in price to be made and then returns to step S316. The price can be reduced by only a limited amount, such as £1 or $1, or the producer24may instruct a so called “price crash” where there is a dramatic drop in price signalled by suitably vibrant and prolific graphics accompaniments from the broadcast graphics26. The reduced price is stored in the game database22, in a location from which this data can be easily copied to the PriceIn field120of any new calls and the Price field214of any new orders. The game database22may signal a lowest possible price that a product is allowed to be reduced to, to stop a producer selling at too much of a financial loss.

Dependent on the preliminary indicators from events at call receiver14and call centre18the TV Producer24may reduce the available quantity of products. Advantageously the user does not have to wait for a confirmed purchase at step S406to do so. Waiting for a confirmed purchase would make the auction very slow, the quantity would only reduce slowly down and the reverse auction would take a significant length of time.

Additionally there would be a significant strain on use of the limited telephone switchboard capacity by new callers seeing the high remaining number, and calling in when in reality they would have little chance of winning due to the number of callers before them who plan to buy but have yet to get to step S404. Always waiting for step S406to be completed before proceeding to step S324will result in a large callers/web users to sales ratio with lengthy TV with website times and space being used for each auction. Since telephone switchboard capacity, television broadcast time and internet bandwidth, linking to website20, are limited resources this is technically inefficient.

Instead the TV producer24may use any number of the preliminary indicators which include the time of a call, the number of calls received and calls being received at S400, a caller pressing 1 at S402, a call being answered at S404or any of these when compared to the caller or the product's sales history and the historical likelihood of one of these events occurring at the time within the auction resulting in a confirmed sale at step S406. Most commonly the TV producer24will use the caller pressing 1 at S402as the indicator that a unit is likely to be sold to that caller. The user may also take into consideration whether to reduce the quantity when the caller presses 1, whether the auction is at a suitable time and also the history of that customer if they have been identified. For example on certain games it is found from a TV producer's experience/events stored in game database22that calls at the very start of the auction who press 1 lead to queries being made about previous products by callers trying to bypass an enquiries system by going through the auction route, rather than lead to a sale. Accordingly this may not lead to a reduction in quantity at step S324. Alternatively, the TV producer can override these normal instincts/instructions by taking into account callers' track history, for instance they may recall a customer or determine from stored records their past behaviour, which leads them to indicate that even pressing 1 at a normally unsuitable time can be relied upon as likely to result in a sale in this case. All of this can be done by automatic algorithms based on past games in the game database22.

At Step S324the TV producer24may reduce the quantity by any number dependent on the activities of the calls that have been monitored. Next at step S326computer system12determines whether the stored quantity of objects for the current game has reached zero. If not then it returns to step S316. The TV producer24is prevented from reducing the quantity to a level below the start quantity less total calls received at step S400less orders in the game and orders on the website (an order meaning the placing of a unit into the shopping cart).

A reduction in quantity results in a stored preliminary available quantity in product allocation44being reduced by that number. This preliminary available quantity is displayed using broadcast graphics26to the presenter and public.

Once the preliminary available quantity reaches zero at step S326the process proceeds to step S328where the game is ended. This ending is recorded in game database22and leads to step S330where end game graphics are prompted and sent to the broadcast graphics component26. Lastly at step332there is the re-pricing of existing order lines Order records can be completed and the purchase confirmed at step S406before the game ends and therefore a re-pricing mechanism needs to be in place to reduce the price of any order lines placed for a higher price than the games lowest final price. That is in order records40the field price214which was based on the price in field120of the accompanying call recorded, or present price when the order was converted, is reduced to the final price stored in the game database22from reductions at steps S322. This check takes place for all games completed in the last 30 minutes, but could be over any time period The lowest price does not have to include web games on web site20, which can operate in isolation, but may do so. The total order needs to be recalculated, including any vouchers that have been provided such as vouchers which offer a percentage reduction after re-pricing an order line.

A web order WO can also be made via a web site20. An online customer generally should be pre-registered and once registered and logged in they can click on an item to place in their shopping cart. Web auctions can run independently or the web site20can be an alternative medium from which to enter a televised auction. In the latter case the TV producer24is shown web order WO on the display list and will usually mark this as a preliminary indicator The TV producer24can be prompted to reduce the quantity at step S324given the preliminary indicator of a web user putting a unit in a shopping cart, in a manner conventional to websites enabled for product purchase. As with other preliminary indicators, the producer may hesitate to reduce a quantity, especially if the event takes place earlier in the game when the price is still high, as customers can test the web site by placing units in their shopping cart and removing them a few seconds later.

The click to buy which puts a unit into the shopping cart must take place before the end game328. However the check out process may take place a number of days after the unit is placed into the shopping cart. This would require full payment details including typically card holder address, delivery address and payment details. The unit can be placed as a new order record40or can be added to an existing order record40so that the customer saves on delivery charges. Such a purchase can then be confirmed by e-mail.

Referring toFIGS. 5-1to5-2there is shown a process of dealing with requests to reduce the preliminary available quantity made by TV producer24at step S324.

First at step S500the request to reduce the preliminary available quantity by an amount is received. Next at step S502processor13accesses the call database30and counts the total number of calls received during the game. Next at step S504the total number of calls is added to the total number of web orders WO stored in a database of system12or stored at a server or server hosting the web site20corresponding to the present game.

At step S506the system adds any incremental quantities in the game where the quantity is greater than one from the order records40. When a caller is put through to the call centre18it may be permissible for the caller to buy more than one of the units in the auction. So if instead of buying one product they were to buy five, this would be recorded in additional order records40in the order database38and could be added at step S506. At step S508the maximum possible quantity that could have been sold is calculated from the addition of the number of calls, number of web orders and any additional sales from steps S502,504and506. From this at S510the processor13of computer system12calculates whether the full quantity reduction requested is possible by calculating whether the start quantity minus the maximum possible quantity sold is less than or equal to the current screen quantity minus the request of the reduction.

If the answer at step S510is “yes” the system12proceeds to step512where the preliminary available quantity of product allocation44is reduced by the full amount requested. Using the allocation44the quantity remaining displayed on the screen is reduced by the requested quantity and stored in the database for the web synchronisation. It then proceeds to the end of the process step S522. The main auction process will then continue to step S326.

If a full quantity reduction is not possible at step S510because the TV producer24is attempting to reduce the number to below the maximum possible quantity that could be left unsold the system proceeds to step S514where the reduction is capped so that the preliminary available quantity in product allocation44is reduced to the start quantity minus the maximum possible quantity that could have been sold. Next at step S516the processor13of computer system12determines if the revised reduction is below 1. If it is not below 1 the process continues to step S518where the quantity is reduced by this new revised reduction and the system proceeds to step S326. If the revised reduction is below 1 (i.e. zero) then the current preliminary available quantity is not reduced at all at step S520and the process continues to step S326and goes back to S316.

InFIGS.7-1to7-2is shown the process of amending an item on an existing order by a call centre operative. At step S700the operative attempts to amend an item. At step S702the operative determines whether the product is standard or an ex-demonstration product. If it is standard it proceeds to step S704and if it is ex-demonstration is goes to step S718.

At step S704the operative is asked by computer system12whether it is wished to change the quantity of units on the order. If the answer is no then it goes directly to step S710. If the answer is yes is goes to step S706. At S706the operative reduces the allocated quantity and this is represented in product allocation44in the product database42with the allocation being reduced. Accordingly the free quantity which can be still sold and allocated to people is increased at step S708. This is also recorded in the product allocation components44of product database42.

At step S710the system10determines whether the current game is a TV game or merely a web based game only. If it is a TV game it precedes to S712and if not it goes to step S714. At S712the price is changed to the lowest entered in the TV game. At S714the standard order line is amended and this is recorded in the order database38. Then at step S716any vouchers are recalculated and the system proceeds step S726.

Steps S718, S720and S722are identical to steps S704, S706and S708except that it is the special component of the product allocation component44that deals with ex demo allocated quantities that are changed. The system will then to proceed to Step S724where the ex demo order line is amended and recorded in database38. The system then proceeds to step S716.

At step S726the carriage, VAT and order totals are recalculated and these details are saved at S728in the order database38.

InFIGS. 8-1to8-2is shown the process of matching calls and orders. Occasionally customers can drop out of the game after pressing1at step S402but before the call is answered at step S404. Additionally customers can decide not to buy after speaking to the operative at call centre18after the call is answered at S404so that step S406is never realised. Also an attempt can be made to confirm purchase at step S406but the payment details may not clear authorisation or be correctly taken. In such cases it will normally be that they have given enough preliminary indicators that it is likely that their call will have resulted in the TV producer24reducing the preliminary available quantity in allocation component44at step S324, but will not have resulted in a sale or increase in the final allocation in allocation component44. Accordingly it is possible that after the auction is finished that not all units will have been sold. It is then possible to call such customers back and invite them to order the unit at the closing price of the auction.

In one embodiment, when that is the case, any customers who pressed 1 at step S402but did not buy are contacted, since they registered some form of interest, even if they hung up before the call was answered. Such customers may be already registered so that their CLID can be positively matched against a record in the customer database36or they may be unregistered.

In order to allow the correct people to be contacted the system12matches call records32against order records40so that people who have already ordered are not called.

At step S800a list of calls received between the start and the end of a game (S312and S328) are obtained from the call database30. At step S802these call records are matched to customer records37using the telephone look up system34. Alternatively the Call ID104and date reference102are entered by the communication monitoring component16into the additional field216in all new order record40and call records32. The order records40are then matched without need for the telephone look up system34by comparing data in fields216,102and104. At step S804any order records40which were placed by customers known in the customer database36are tagged this includes consideration of sub-products where size and/or colour options are offered. Next at step S806web orders WO are treated as if placed by telephone.

From the results of steps S804and S806there are order records40which are tagged to customer records37and these can then be tagged to call records32which were known to match those customers' records at step S802.

Accordingly steps S800to S806result in four separate lists, a list of calls matched to customers and orders808, a list of calls matched to customers but not linked to order lines810, a list of calls not matched to a customer or an order812and a list of order records40matched to a customer record32but not linked to a call record32,814.

Lists808and810are sent to form part of a final list824. The two lists812and814are compared at step S816where these two lists are matched assuming a first in first out order line placing. Whilst it is simplistic to assume first in first out it does result in a sale being matched to a call record32even if it was a different caller. Step S816results in two lists, a list of calls matched to customers and order lines818which is sent to form part of the final list824and a list of calls not matched to a customer37or an order record40,820.

At step S822the list820has area codes information added from any caller line identifier in the calling number field106looking up area codes and their respective areas from existing conventional databases. After step S822this supplementary version of list820is also put into the final list824. Accordingly the final list824contains lists of call records32and web orders which are matched to customers and order records40which are matched to customer records37but not linked to order records40but are not matched to a customer that has an area code or not matched to a customer without area code, the latter occurring for instance where there is no CLID because the number has been withheld.

The list of calls containing a data entry in the TimeIn field112which have not been linked to an order record40but for which the CLID is available may form the basis of customers called back to sell any unsold products after the game has ended and all calls received for that game have been cleared.

InFIGS. 9-1to9-7is shown the process of the system12matching a customer, who is looking to buy a product having already gone through steps S400, S402and S404or who has placed a direct call to the call centre unrelated to any game. The process begins at step S900which is equivalent to step S400. In the situation that a game is not in progress, such as when matching records to help clear undersold units, then the system can skip directly to step S916. Alternatively where the order number is used directly it can go via step S928. In the case of S928the call centre operative enters an order number and then proceeds to step S930.

After the call is received at step S906the operator answers the call which is equivalent to step S404. At step S908the computer system12accesses call monitor application16to be informed which call record32the caller corresponds to. The call record32includes the product ID field118and the operator is given details of this product which is placed in the product code field208of a newly created order record40. Additionally at step S908the operative of the call centre18may request from the system12the caller's customer details, such as by pressing a customer look up button on a PC displaying the new order record40. System12then uses the caller line ID stored in calling number field106to attempt to look up customer details. This then uses the telephone look up system34to see if there is a customer record37in the customer database36in the same manner as is done for providing the TV producer24with information. The operative does not need to key in the telephone number, this can be done automatically by the computer system12. This is because the system knows the extension that the operative is working at and at the press of a button can look up the call record20corresponding to the caller who is active for that extension.

If a matching customer record37is found all of the customer's details and past order history will be made available to the operative and where applicable the relevant fields in the order record40are filled. For example the customer name202, address204, telephone number206can be filled from the matched customer record202whilst the product field208can be filled from the matched call record32and its product ID field118. If CLID is not available or the customer's present telephone number is not in the telephone look up34, the operative will try to locate the customer using their post code by requesting it from them. The operative asks the caller for their post code and attempts a customer record look up37through the customer database36using this. Of course if it is the customer's first purchase a record27will not be located.

Even where the CLID did not provide a usable customer record37the telephone number field206may still be filled from the CLID from the call record32. When such an order record40is stored, the new telephone number field206is then used to create an entry/update in the telephone number look up table to match with subsequent calls.

In the case that no customer record can be found the operative asks for all of the details manually and fills them in on the order record40simultaneously creating a new customer record37.

At step S910the system creates a temporary allocation and in one embodiment can communicate this to the TV producer to take that as a preliminary indicator. This is a stronger indictor than that merely a “1” has been pressed since the caller has now strongly confirmed their intent to proceed to a sale. There is also the possibility that the caller did not press 1 but pressed the wrong number and has gone through and managed to achieve a purchase before the auction finished. In those circumstances this will be indicated to the TV producer24, so that they can reduce the number of the allocation, if appropriate. The temporary allocation mechanism ensures that the caller successfully secures their unit, regardless of how long the actual order takes to enter onto the computer system12.

At step S912after confirmation of sale of the unit, the number of available units in the final product allocation in allocation44is then increased at step S914, and the number which are available to sell is reduced.

The customer record37is found from the customer database36at step S916. Next at step S918the computer system12and/or operator determines whether the record has been correctly found and if not goes to step S920where a new customer record37is created and entered in the customer database36, the process then proceeding to step S922. If correctly found at step S918, the process proceeds to step S922.

At step S922the order history of the customer is retrieved from the customer database36and additionally previous corresponding orders are found from the order database38with the order records40which match the customer record37. The individual caller may then choose to create a new order or may add the new order to an existing order record. In the case that a new order is created the system proceeds to step S934and if it selects an existing one then it goes to step S926. At step S926a particular order record is selected and the details of it are obtained at step S930from the order database38.

Next at step S932the system12determines whether the order is completed and if it is skips to step S944and if it is not it goes to step S938.

At step S934a new order record40is created for the customer and placed in the order database38. At step S936the system12determines whether the order record is locked. If it is locked then the process is aborted whereas otherwise it goes to step S938where the system checks for a temporary allocation from step S910. If no temporary allocation exists, the system proceeds to step S944. If a temporary allocation is found then at step S940is removed and at step S942a new order record is created for the unit previously allocated in database38.

At step S944the system recalls the items on an existing order from the database38. Then at step S946the customer details for that order are recalled and at step S948there is a stage to check for fraud so that if suspected at step S950the order can be cancelled by skipping straight to step S952. Provided there is no fraud the process continues to step S954. The order is now reviewed and ultimately completed.

The process then proceeds either to step S952to cancel the order, to step S953to abort changes if it was an existing order and no changes were made, to step S956to save changes and to record a marketing source, or to step S958to recalculate the order and store changes. All of the steps S352, S953and S956results in the order being involved at step S960.

Before step S958the system or operator may add a unit or voucher and amend a unit, delete a unit or voucher, change payment details, change delivery address (and in the case of changing country it may change the VAT payable), or change the scheduled shipment date. After step S958it is possible to return to the review order stage at S954for any of the changes that have been saved in the order database38. In the case of steps S952, S954and S956after they have finished the process ends.

Before step S956the system may split the order into shippable and out-of-stock lines or save the order depending on the data and store this in the order database38.

InFIG. 10is shown a process of cancelling an order andFIG. 11is showing a process of changing payment details.

Referring toFIGS. 12-1to12-5there is shown a system of authorising a credit card.