METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING COMMUNICATION TO GOVERNMENT/CORPORATE OFFICIALS VIA THE INTERNET

Abstract: A method and apparatus for facilitating communication to a government official or corporate executive in which a citizen's complaint/concern is incorporated into an e-mail and sent via the Internet is presented. A web server, such as Peoplepower.com, acts as an intermediary to whom the citizen can turn to voice his or her complaints. Upon a citizen logging-in to the web server, the web server prompts the citizen in dialog form to make a determination of what topic/area the citizen's complaint/concern covers, generates at least one letter/memorandum which covers the complaint/concern topic/area, and provides a list of potential recipients for the letter/memorandum. The web server allows the citizen to edit the letter/memorandum, to choose to which recipient(s) the letter/memorandum is to be sent, and generates and sends the corresponding e-mails. An aggregate number of corresponding complaints/concerns received by the web server from other citizens can be added to the e-mail, thereby showing the government official/corporate executive the level of interest in the topic/area by the citizenry and adding to the complaint/concern the strength of numbers.

Description: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING COMMUNICATION TO GOVERNMENT/CORPORATE OFFICIALS VIA THE INTERNET FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for facilitating communication to and from government/corporate officials via the Internet, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus in which complaint/concern letters are generated and sent to select officials from a computer server via the Internet. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The political landscape of our country has reached a point where many of its politicians are so beholden to special interests, lobbyists and wealthy patrons that the average citizen no longer factors into this political landscape. These special interests and their lobbyists and those with large sums of money now have more influence over the course of our government and its resources than should be accepted in a true democracy. For instance, millions, possibly even billions, are spent every year in the United States on what are known as "pork barrel" projects, projects which directly benefit the special interests and their lobbyists and which are often to the detriment of the average citizen. Further, the average citizen no longer has an opportunity to voice his or her opinion, nor to even simply be heard. A citizen hoping to be heard who utilizes the telephone is often sadly left frustrated and discouraged. This is because telephone calls to government or corporate headquarters often result in busy signals, unanswered calls, spending innumerable minutes or hours on hold, dealing with bored, uninterested or angry operators, etc. Unfortunately, to add injury to insult, any hope of being heard oftentimes requires a personal visit to the politician's/executive's office. To be heard, that is, when the average citizen can even get through the door. Many times the citizen is rebuffed outright at the door, or the politician/executive is "not in" or "in a meeting", and thus the citizen never even gets to voice his or her concern. The present state of our society is such that not only can the average citizen not be heard, but there is only a very limited opportunity for the average citizen to even band together with his or her fellow citizens so that a common voice can be heard. Thus, as can be seen, there is a need for a method and/or apparatus by which the average citizen can stand up and be heard, so that his or her opinion is seen to be representative of a larger group, and is taken note of and can thereby force the politicians/executives to listen and to act. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for facilitating communication to a government/ corporate official utilizing the power of the Internet. A citizen who desires that his or her opinion be heard will login to a computer server such as the Peoplepower.com website. The Peoplepower.com website will prompt the citizen for their complaint/concern, and based upon the responses to the prompts will retrieve and/or generate a letter which addresses the citizen's complaint/concern. The citizen may then choose to edit the letter or send the letter as it is. The computer server of Peoplepower.com will also provide the citizen with a list of possible recipients of the letter. The recipients will be those officials and/or executives in power who can address the citizen's concerns. The citizen will have the choice of who he or she wishes to receive the letter and what information will be sent to each. Peoplepower.com will also aggregate the number of complaints that have been received regarding the citizen's complaint topic and attach the aggregated numbers to the letter. The aggregated number of like-minded complainants will be enumerated both in total and in subsets defined by shared characteristics such as physical address, sex, age, political affiliation, voter-registration status, etc. In this manner then, the complaint/concern letter carries the weight of all of the other concerned citizens who likewise want results. When the letter is to the citizen's liking, the computer server of the Peoplepower.com website will send the letter as an e-mail via the Internet to each of the designated recipients. Further, the Peoplepower.com website will track the receipt of the e-mail and the responses to those e-mails. In this manner then, the present invention allows a citizen to reach the official/executive whose responsibility it is to respond to the citizen's complaint/concern and do so with the power of combined numbers behind that letter. The present invention, including its features and advantages, will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings . BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figures 1A and B illustrate a flow chart of a method by which letters/messages may be sent to a government/corporate official, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 illustrates a message flow chart for facilitating communication to a government/corporate official, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 illustrates an apparatus by which letters/messages may be sent to a government/corporate official via the Internet, according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Figures 1 through 3 illustrate a method and apparatus for facilitating communication to government/ corporate officials in which complaint/concern letters are generated and sent from a computer server to the officials via the Internet. Referring now to Figures 1A and IB, in step 5 a citizen having a complaint and/or a concern will log-in to the communication website. The website may have a uniform resource locator (URL) such as Peoplepower.com. It is to be understood, of course, that any suitable URL may be utilized, and it is not to limited to the one herein described. Further, it is to be understood, of course, that the web site can be presented in the hyper-text markup language (HTML) or in any other computer code/language that is suitable for presenting a web site/page and allowing inter-activity between the web site/page and user. In step 10, the complaint/concern web site server will prompt the citizen for input parameters relating to the complaint/concern. Such prompting may be done by means of an "instructional dialogue" with the citizen. For instance, if a citizen logs-in to the computer server having a complaint regarding late trash pickup on his or her street, the computer server will prompt the citizen for a key word. The citizen may enter the key word "trash" . The computer server can then further prompt the citizen for what type of trash problem the citizen is concerned or complaining about. For instance, the complaint could relate to trash talking in sports, trash in the movies or on television, trash pickup in a neighborhood, or even just trash lying on a particular block/street. In this manner then, the computer server allows the citizen to choose from a number of possible complaint areas involving the word "trash". It is to be understood, of course, that the web pages can be presented in HTML or in any other computer code/language which allows for interactivity between the web site and the citizen. Further, it is to be understood, of course, that the present invention is not to be limited solely to the complaint/concern topic/area of trash, and rather that topics/areas that the present invention may include are such things as, for instance: health care; polluters; traffic; mass transit; sanitation; schools; police; voter registration; telephone service; utilities; faulty products and lemons; misleading advertising; rip-off stores; and other government/ corporate services, etc. Upon narrowing the key word search of the complaint/ concern of the citizen, in step 15, the computer server will search a corresponding database. The database is a database set up to contain pre-written letters and/or memorandums corresponding to each complaint/concern area and/or topic. The database has been pre-loaded with various topics of complaints/concerns and the corresponding letters and/or memorandums which can be sent relating to the topic/area. The computer server then searches the database for the corresponding topic and the corresponding letters/memorandums that pertain to that topic. Upon locating of the correct topic/area of the complaint/concern, . in step 20 the computer server will determine and store the aggregate number of inquiries and/or complaints thus far received relating to the citizen's complaint/concern topic/area. Such aggregation of the number of inquiries and/or complaints can utilize a counter which keeps track of topics/areas entered in the dialog steps, described above, or of the searches when performed. Further, such aggregation can be broken down into categories, such as from whom or where such complaints/ concerns were received, or into categories relating to the complainants' shared characteristics. For instance, the system can track from which physical address, neighborhoods (i.e., "zip + 4"), towns, cities, or states, etc. the complaints/concerns were received, or in which categories, such as age, sex, income range, purchasing history, political affiliation, voter-registration status, etc. the complainants are in. In step 25, a determination is made regarding whether a corresponding and/or appropriate letter/memorandum has been located. If a correctly corresponding letter/ memorandum to the topic/area of the citizen's complaint/ concern is not located, exception processing takes place and the method for facilitating communication returns to step 10 to further prompt and/or inform the citizen. For instance, if the citizen wishes to complain about the noise and smell from a nearby trash dump, but the database does not contain a letter/memorandum to this effect, the system can inform the web site server headquarters and inform the citizen that a letter/memorandum will be prepared and he or she will be notified when it is ready. If, however, a corresponding and/or appropriate letter/memorandum is located, then the method continues to the next step. Having located an appropriate letter/memorandum, in step 30 the letter/memorandum is presented to the citizen. It is to be understood, of course, that more than one letter/ memorandum may have been located, and as such each and every appropriate letter/memorandum will be presented to the citizen. In step 35, the citizen is allowed to choose from among the appropriate letters/memorandums and to edit the letter/memorandum of his or her choice. This allows the citizen to tailor make his or her complaint regarding the topic/area of the complaint/concern. The citizen can also, at this point, decide whether he or she wishes to "sign" the letter/memorandum or to remain anonymous, and whether he or she wishes to have the letter/memorandum sent with the web site's "letterhead". It is to be understood, of course, that the edited or "tailored" letters/memorandums will be read, potentially both by a person and/or by a machine, for inclusion in the database of available letters/memorandums so that they may be presented to future users of the web site. In this manner then, a feedback loop is created that continually makes available more (and more appropriate) letters/memorandums for future web site users. Upon completion of choosing and editing of the letter/memorandum, in step 40 the computer server will present a list of possible/potential recipients of that letter/ memorandum to the citizen. It is to be understood, of course, that such list will include business and government leaders, relevant special interest groups and/or general-interest media, thus being essentially anyone or any group/organization who is in a position to act on and influence the outcome of the citizen's complaint/concern. For instance, such business and government leaders could span from the chairman of a corporation to a member of the town council, or to any recipient who may have a relation to the citizen's complaint. Furthermore, it is to be understood, that by providing such a broad range of potential recipients, the web site provides the concerned citizen with a broad reach all in a single step. Thus in step 45, the computer server allows a choice of to whom the citizen wishes to send a copy of the complaint/ concern letter/memorandum. In the above manner then, the present invention is able to essentially promote itself, as well as to champion the causes of its user base, by such contact with the special interest groups and general media. Such contact can include additionally, for example, a "lemon- of-the-month" newsletter which can publically humiliate the manufacturer or seller of a defective product, and/or an "uncivil-servant-of-the-month" newsletter which can highlight a government official's unresponsiveness to the needs of his or her constituents. In step 50, upon completion of the choice of the recipient (s) by the citizen, the computer server will automatically generate a corresponding e-mail (s). The e-mail will contain the text of the letter/memorandum, as edited or not as the case may be, and will be addressed to the recipient designated by the citizen. It is to be understood, of course, that a separate e-mail can be generated/addressed for each different intended recipient. After generation of the appropriate e-mail (s), and before sending them, the computer server attaches identifiers and aggregate numbers to the e-mails. Thus, in step 55 the computer server will generate and attach a unique identifier to each of the previously generated e-mails. The unique identifier allows the system to keep track of each and every e-mail and any subsequent actions relating to that e-mail (e.g., responses, status reports, "ticklers", etc.). Further, in step 60 the computer server will attach an aggregated number of the complaints previously determined and stored relating to the topic/area of the citizen's complaint/concern. The inclusion of the aggregate numbers give a sense of the "weight" of the citizen's complaint/concern. Furthermore, the aggregate numbers can be designed to convey different information, such as the number of other individuals in the citizen's neighborhood, town, city, state, etc. who are also concerned about the topic/area of the letter/memorandum. After all attachments are completed, in step 65 the computer server will then send the e-mails, on a Peoplepower letterhead (if so elected), to each of the designated recipients. Having generated and sent each of the e-mails to the designated recipients, in step 70 the citizen will be informed that the e-mails have been sent, of the number of other citizens who have also sent e-mails and/or complained, and will be directed to a "town meeting" chat room where the citizen may "chat" with other citizens who have similar complaint/concerns . Such direction of the citizen to the chat room by the computer server may be done by further dialog with the citizen. Correspondingly to the above step, and after having generated and sent the e-mails to the appropriate recipients, in step 75 the computer server will maintain a log of the receipt of the e-mails by the recipients and any responses to those e-mails from the recipients. The log may be indexed on the basis of the unique identifier, which the computer server attached to the original complaint e-mail as described above, and thus enable the computer server to easily correlate responses and/or remediation and/or lack thereof. In step 80, each of the generated e-mails and the log of the receipt/ responses will be stored in the database for future reference. Further, it is to be understood, of course, that the computer server can take subsequent independent actions relating to the sent e-mail. For instance, the server may send status updates and/or "tickler" reminders to the complainant (s) and/or the recipient (s) . Each subsequent action can then be tracked and logged on the basis of the unique identifier. Through the mechanism of the status reports and "tickler" reminders, the present invention allows the citizen to temporarily put the matter out of his or her mind, secure in the knowledge that the complaint will be heard and will have the "strength in numbers" granted by the aggregating function of the apparatus behind it, and that he/she and the recipient (s) will be reminded on a timely basis to either take further action or to enjoy the satisfaction that remediation will bring. Referring now to Figure 2, a message flow chart for the facilitation of communication to a government/corporate official is shown. A system user 200 will send a log-in contact 205 to a web server 201. The web server will respond with a prompt 206 for the type of complaint/concern that the user 200 has. The user then responds with message 207 delineating the type of complaint/concern the user has. For instance, a system user named "Lisa" logs-in to a web server for the web site Peoplepower.com with log-in contact 205. The Peoplepower.com web site responds with prompt 206 saying: "Hello Lisa, what may I help you with today?". Lisa responds in message 207 by typing in that the crosstown bus is always late and the driver discourteous. The Peoplepower.com web site, in an attempt to gather more information regarding Lisa's complaint/concern, can respond with another message 207 asking for the location, time and bus number for the crosstown bus. Thus, it is to be understood, of course, that various prompt messages 206 and response messages 207 may be sent/ repeated as many times as necessary in the form of a dialogue to convey the user's complaint/concern to the web server 201. Upon a sufficient understanding of the user's complaint/concern, the web server 201 will conduct a search 208 of database 202. Upon the successful search and location of a corresponding letter/memorandum, database 202 will send response 209 to web server 201. It is to be understood, of course, that search request 208 and search response 209 may be repeated as many times as is necessary until such time as an appropriate letter/memorandum is retrieved from database 202 by web server 201. Upon receipt of the appropriate letter/memorandum by web server 201, web server 201 will then send a copy of the letter/memorandum in message 210 to user 200. At this point, as discussed above, user 200 may make editorial changes to the letter/memorandum contained in message 210. Thus, assuming changes are warranted or necessary, user 200 sends editorial response 211 to web server 201. Web server 201 enters such changes to the letter/ memorandum and in response sends a list of recipients message 212 to user 200. Further, web server 201 can incorporate elements of the changed/edited messages into its database of pre-written "stock" letters/memorandums, so that they may be made available to citizens with a similar complaint and/or grievance. User 200 then has an option to select to whom he or she wishes to have the complaint/concern sent to and in message 213 sends the choices of those recipients. Concurrently, web server 201 aggregates the user's choices of recipients of message 213 for future identification and as possible recipients of "lemon-of-the-month" and/or "uncivil- servant-of-the-month" newsletters and/or similar public actions. Such aggregated recipients are also likely targets of appeals by the web server to help them improve their service and public relations . At this point, web server 201 may determine and store an aggregate number of complaints/concerns received which relate to user 200' s complaint/concern. Such storage of this aggregate number is sent in message 214 from web server 201 to database 202. It is to be understood, of course, that such determination and storage of the aggregate number of complaints may occur at any point after which it is feasible for the web server 201 to determine what type of complaint/ concern user 200 has. This, of course, would thus necessarily occur after completion of the dialogue of the prompt messages 206 and user response messages 207. Having determined the user's complaint/concern, generated and allowed for the letters/memorandums to be edited, and having determined a list of recipients for the letter/memorandum, the web server 201 will generate and send an e-mail in message 215 to official 203. It is to be understood, of course, that more than one e-mail message 215 may be sent as there may be more than one official 203 to whom the message has been designated to be sent. Web server 201 may also correspondingly direct the user 200 to a "town meeting" by means of chat room directions message 216. Such chat room affords the user 200 the opportunity to "chat" with other citizens who have similar complaints/concerns. Such chat room may be facilitated/hosted by web server 201 or by another web server entirely. Thus, in the case where the user wishes to engage in dialogue with other citizens having similar complaints/concerns, user 200 will log-in with message 217 to a chat room hosted by web server 201. Concurrently to the above, web server 201 will monitor responses from officials 203. Officials 203 respond with message 218 by sending a reply e-mail to the web server 201. As described above, web server 201 can then create a compilation file of responses from officials 203, and can both store the file and send it to user 200. Further, web server 201 may make the file available to either other citizens with the same or related complaints, and/or to the media for their assistance in inducing officials 203 to live up to their responsibilities as either civil servants or private-sector providers of goods and/or services to the public. Web server 201 may then send a notification message 219 to user 200 indicating which politician/executive has responded to the user's complaint/concern e-mail message 215 and whether or not the complaint/concern is being addressed. It is to be understood, of course, that officials 203 may respond to either the web server 201, as shown above, or may direct the message directly to user 200. It is to be further understood, of course, that the web server may "co-opt" (i.e., essentially determine) the choice of to where the response is to be sent. For instance, the web server may only include return addressing information for the web server (e.g., such as the web server's uniform resource locator (URL)) . In the case, however, where the official 203 directs his/her response message 218 to the user 200, the web server 201 will monitor such response by means of the unique identifier attached to the complaint/concern e-mail message 214 originally sent to official 203. Referring now to Figure 3, an apparatus by which a concerned citizen's complaints/concerns may be sent to a government/corporate official via an e-mail over the Internet is shown. A citizen 300 will log-in to a web server 305 over a communications route 301. The citizen 300 may log-in to web server 305 by means of a desk top computer, laptop computer, handheld computer, telephone, or any other means by which electronic digital and/or analog messages and data may be transmitted and received. Communications line 301 may be hard-wired or wireless. For instance, communications line 301 may be a telephone line or a video/audio cable, or may be a radio signal, infrared signal or any other communication means hereafter to be discovered. Web server 305 may be an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or any other computer server/mainframe capable of controlling/coordinating the above described methods . Web server 305 also contains a database 306 in which storage of relevant information may be placed. Such information is, of course, as described above, related to Preformatted letters/memorandums concerning various topics/areas of complaints/concerns and listings of possible recipients of these complaints/concerns . Database 306 may, of course, be situated congruently with web server 305 or may be situated at a distant location from the web server, such as with another separate computer server. Web server 305 communicates to official 310 via communication line 307. As above, communication line 307 may be hard wired or wireless. Communication lines 301 and 307 may thus be part of the Internet realm, PSTN realm, or any other communications realm through which messages may be transmitted. Official 310 receives messages from web server 305 via any apparatus by which official 310 can be connected to the Internet. Thus, as can be seen from the above, the method and apparatus of the present invention provide a new and unique way for a concerned citizen to voice his or her complaint/ concern, not just to one politician/executive, but to many. The above method and apparatus also allow for that citizen's voice to be heard in conjunction with all of the other concerned citizens who have also complained about a particular topic/area. In this way the politician/executive is made aware of the importance of the average citizen. Lastly, it is to be understood, of course, that the above described methods and apparatus need not be limited to the sending of e-mail related to citizen complaints/concerns, and rather that dialogues relating to other interests and corresponding e-mails may be undertaken. For instance, users of the system may wish to send e-mails relating to greetings, congratulations, condolences, or any other type of messages. Accordingly, in the foregoing description the method and apparatus of the present invention have been described with reference to a number of examples that are not to be considered limiting. Rather, it is to be understood and expected that variations in the principles of the method and apparatus herein disclosed may be made by one skilled in the art and it is intended that such modifications, changes, and/or substitutions are to be included within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and the drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense.

Claims: What Is Claimed Is: 1. A method for facilitating communication of an individual's complaints/concerns to a government/corporate official utilizing the Internet, the method comprising the steps of: identifying the individual's complaint/concern; retrieving at least one letter/memorandum which corresponds to the individual's complaint/concern; presenting the at least one letter/memorandum to the individual ; presenting a list of at least one recipient who can act to resolve the individual's complaint/concern to the individual; generating at least one e-mail containing the at least one letter/memorandum and addressed to the at least one recipient; and sending the at least one e-mail to the at least one recipient. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: permitting the individual to edit the at least one letter/memorandum should the individual choose to do so. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: determining an aggregate number of inquiries received regarding the individual's complaint/concern; and attaching the aggregate number to the at least one e-mail, wherein the aggregate number can be enumerated in the at least one e-mail in at least one format comprising of at least one of a total number and at least one category. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: generating a unique identifier for each one of the at least one e-mail; and attaching the unique identifier to each one of the at least one e-mail. 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: monitoring a receipt of the at least one e-mail by the at least one recipient; monitoring a response to the at least one e-mail by the at least one recipient; and maintaining a log of the receipt and the response. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: directing the individual to a chat room. 7. A method of conveying a citizen's complaints and concerns to at least one of a government official and a corporate executive from a web server, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a citizen's complaint/concern at a uniform resource locator of the web server; searching a database for at least one letter/ memorandum which corresponds to the individual's complaint/ concern; creating in one of an HTML format and another computer coded format a web page containing the at least one letter/memorandum; searching a database for at least one recipient, corresponding to at least one of the government official and the corporate executive, to whom the at least one letter/ memorandum can be sent; creating in one of an HTML format and another computer coded format a web page containing the at least one rec ipient ; generating an e-mail containing a content of the at least one letter memorandum and addressed to the at least one recipient; and causing the e-mail to be transmitted to at least one of the at least one of government official and corporate executive. 8. The method according to claim 7, the method further comprising the step of: providing an opportunity for the citizen to edit the at least one letter/memorandum should the citizen so choose. 9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of: determining an aggregate number of inquiries received regarding the citizen's complaint/concern; and attaching the aggregate number to the at least one e-mail . 10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of: generating a unique identifier for each one of the at least one e-mail; and attaching the unique identifier to each one of the at least one e-mail. 11. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of: monitoring a receipt of the at least one e-mail by the at least one recipient; monitoring a response to the at least one e-mail by the at least one recipient; and maintaining a log of the receipt and the response. 12. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of: directing the citizen to the web server's chat room. 13. An apparatus for facilitating communication between a citizen having a complaint/concern and at least one of a government official and a corporate executive who are in a position to act on the complaint/concern, the apparatus comprising: means for a citizen to communicate with a web server; a web server which allows for interactive dialogue between the server and the citizen; a database which contains at least one pre-written letter/memorandum concerning the complaint/concern and a corresponding list of at least one of the at least one government official and corporate executive; and means for the web server to communicate with the at least one of a government official and a corporate executive, wherein the web server allows the citizen to select and edit at least one of the at least one pre-written letter/memorandum, and to choose at least one of the at least one government official and corporate executive from the corresponding list, and wherein the web server will then generate and send at least one e-mail which contains a text of the selected and edited at least one pre-written letter/memorandum to the chosen at least one government official and corporate executive . 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the means for a citizen to communicate with a web server is the Internet . 15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the means for the web server to communicate with the at least one of a government official and a corporate executive is the Internet.

Inventors: KISSEL MICHAEL C, KISSEL, MICHAEL, C.
Applicants: KISSEL MICHAEL C, KISSEL, MICHAEL, C.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: G06F
IPC codes: G06Q10