Abstract:
A set top box may in one embodiment enable customers to use their televisions to purchase through a live sales agent The set top box may have a high or low bandwidth bi-directional communication link that enables video conferencing through the television for the presentation of sales material to support the sales agent in his efforts to sell a product to the customer.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    Copending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/614,399 and 09/680,796, filed 12 Jul. 2000 and 06 Oct. 2000 respectively are related to the present invention and are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to a set top box for use with a television enabling interactive two-way live communication related to a sales opportunity.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    Internet commerce has exploded into the public awareness. The 1990s and first part of 2000 saw a flurry of activity in the industry as the “dot coms” advertised in such diverse locations as the Super Bowl, on the sides of buses, at trade shows, and the like. The initial burst of energy and investment focused on the Business to Consumer model. This fad passed when it rapidly became apparent that the potential purchasers did not complete some sixty to eighty percent of online transactions commenced.  
           [0006]    This statistic remains prevalent even in the face of efforts to simplify the process, such as amazon.com&#39;s “one-click” technology, embodied in U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,411. This consumer reticence may be due in part to the complexity of the interfaces, the length of time required to complete the transaction, an aversion to sending financial data over the Internet, or some other factor as of yet unexplicated.  
           [0007]    At the same time that online vending is undergoing an identity crisis in the face of unfulfilled customer orders, the traditional “brick-and-mortar” world is experiencing a marked dearth of qualified sales agents in the stores. Department stores are unable to compete with higher paying jobs and lose qualified technical sales agents to other more lucrative positions. The remaining sales force may not be knowledgeable about the products in the show room, and thus are unable to promote products effectively. This results in more lost sales opportunities.  
           [0008]    Despite these concerns, the economic growth of the past decade has put more money in more people&#39;s pockets than seemingly at any other time in memory. Purchases will be made and the companies that figure out how to provide the desired interface for these customers will reap the benefits thereof.  
           [0009]    At the same time that the Internet is exploding with new users and technology, other communication technology is also improving. Videophones, once thought to be science fiction, are now science fact. High speed, high bandwidth communication channels are now becoming commonplace in middle and upper income households. In this technology lies the key to solving the problems facing companies trying to sell to disgruntled and put out consumers.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The present invention provides a videophone enabled set top box on a potential consumer&#39;s home television. The set top box is linked through high or low bandwidth communication connections to a remote call center staffed by trained sales agents. When the consumer sees an advertisement on the television for a product, the consumer may selectively activate the videophone and be connected to one of the sales agents at the call center. The sales agent will communicate with the consumer through the television, providing appropriate content in the form of web content, video clips, audio clips, or the like, to consummate a sale. Upon verification of the appropriate payment vehicle, the call center interfaces with the appropriate manufacturer and shipping company to deliver the just purchased good or service to the consumer.  
           [0011]    In one low bandwidth embodiment, the visual representation of the sales agent is replaced with a “genie” or an animated head through which the sales agent may communicate. The sales agent speaks or types the message and the animated head appears to speak the message. This may be appropriate for corporate image reinforcement or for other reasons. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 illustrates a television with a set top box according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the components of the set top box;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a network via which the consumer may be connected to a remote sales agent;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 illustrates a first flow chart of a consumer purchasing a product through one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 illustrates a second flow chart of a consumer purchasing a product through a second embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 illustrates a third flow chart of a consumer purchasing a product through a third embodiment of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]    The present invention allows consumers to interact with qualified sales representatives from the comfort of their own home, in a simulated retail environment. The sales agent may provide additional content to the consumer via the television, or merely communicate over the videophone with the consumer. To help explain the sales methodology, an explanation of the hardware and software is in order. To that end, reference is made to FIG. 1, wherein a set top box  10  is illustrated positioned atop a television  12  for viewing by a consumer  14  in the comfort of their home. Note that a television is not strictly required, but any unit having a display such as a computer monitor, any Internet connected device with a display, IP address, web browser, and H 323 or similar interactively enabled device may also be appropriate. Thus, the term “remote unit” is herein defined to be a device with a screen capable of displaying video images.  
         [0019]    Consumer  14  may be equipped with a remote control device  16  that wirelessly communicates with the set top box  10  and/or the television  12 . Television  12  may be capable of operating with split screens  18  and have speakers  20 . As an alternative to split screens  18 , comparable technology such as picture-in-a-picture, overlay, or the like, may be substituted.  
         [0020]    Set top box  10  is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2. In particular, set top box  10  comprises a central processing unit  30  such as an INTEL PENTIUM II, AMD K6, or the like microprocessor (or better) with associated motherboard. Potentially positioned on the same motherboard would be memory  32  that may be any appropriate memory such as RAM, ROM, or the like. Set top box  34  may further comprise a microphone  34 , a camera  36 , a satellite receiver  38 , and a remote control unit receiver  40 . Optionally, set top box may still further comprise a television receiver  42 , a cable receiver  44 , a DVD player  46 , a CD player  48 , and a VHS player  50 . It should be appreciated that some of these units may be modularized and in separate boxes, but for the purposes of the present invention, such a modular set of stackable components also falls within the definition of set top box.  
         [0021]    Further, software (not shown explicitly) may be stored in memory  32 . The software may act to control the communication between the various components as well as run some of the functionality of the present invention. Alternatively, dedicated ASICs or other hardware may be created that are hardwired to perform the same functions. While not shown, it should be appreciated that the receivers mentioned above have the appropriate antennas.  
         [0022]    A plurality of set top boxes  10  operate within a communication system  100  as illustrated in FIG. 3. In particular, set top boxes  10  are part of a managed portal network  102  operated by a service provider operating according to the present invention. Managed portal network  102  interfaces with the Internet  104  and particularly with the World Wide Web (www). In managed portal network  102 , each set top box  10  may be assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address. To the extent that the managed portal network  102  is a private Wide Area Network (WAN), these IP addresses may be static and duplicative of other IP addresses used in the Internet  104  proper. To the rest of the Internet  104 , the managed portal network  102  may appears as a single monolithic entity with a single IP address. A call center is also associated with the managed portal network  102 . This call center may be comparable to that disclosed in the above identified related applications. Alternatively, the call center may be comparable to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,762, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. A brief overview of an appropriate system is herein provided to avoid the need to read those references. However, the interested reader is encouraged to read the references for a complete and full understanding of the call center. A message connection server  106 , which may double as an Internet connection server, an agent interaction server  108 , and an ACD server  110  may also form part of the managed portal network  102 . Further, a plurality of customer service representative (CSR) stations  120  and supervisor stations  122  may be included within the managed portal network  102 . Still further, a commerce server  130  may be part of the managed portal network  102 . It should be appreciated that the communicative links between elements of the managed portal network  102  are high bandwidth, high speed connections such as T1 lines, E1 lines, broadband wireless links, two-way satellite communication, cable lines, fiber optic lines, or the like. However, data compression technology allows normal phone lines or twisted pair lines to be used if required.  
         [0023]    Servers  106 ,  108 , and  110  act to route messages from set top boxes  10  to CSR stations  120  and to the commerce server  130  as needed. CSR stations  120  comprise a camera (not shown explicitly), at least one monitor, a headset having a microphone and speaker capabilities, and other communicative capabilities. Each CSR station  120  is staffed by a trained sales agent having one or more specialty areas. As calls come in to the server  106 , the server  106  routes the call to the appropriate CSR station  120 . The accessed CSR station  120  may then begin bi-directional, interactive communication with the set top box  10  and the remote television  12 . This interactive communication may take the form of a video phone call, content being pushed down the communicative link, or other form as needed or desired and as explained fully in the above incorporated copending applications.  
         [0024]    Variations on the methodology are presented in a clearer form below with reference to FIGS. 4-6. Initially, however, the service provider of the present invention approaches advertisers to use the service of the present invention. These advertisers will provide product catalogs for incorporation into the database of the call center. Sales agents are trained in the peculiarities of the products so that they are familiar with the products and can answer customer questions in relation thereto. The product catalogs are imported into the commerce engine server  130  and organized in a coherent fashion.  
         [0025]    The service provider also creates a database of the advertisements and the times at which they will be broadcast. The creation of this database may be done by interfacing with the broadcast stations. The interface may result in the broadcasters providing a guide as to the times and channels on which the advertisements will run or the like. This database will be helpful as described below.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4 illustrates a first embodiment of the methodology of the present invention. After having made the appropriate arrangements with the advertisers and the broadcasters, the broadcaster sends an advertisement with embedded indicia to the television  12  or other remote unit (block  200 ). The broadcaster may use a conventional wireless broadcast, a cable broadcast, a satellite broadcast or the like as needed or desired. The advertisement is most likely going to be a typical commercial, such as a thirty second spot during a sit com or the like. The embedded indicia may be an alphanumeric sequence or the like. Further, the embedded indicia may be selectively displayable on the display of the television  12 , much like a closed caption service. Alternatively, the embedded indicia may be a ghost image in a corner of the screen, much like a company logo is frequently ghosted into corners of the screen (e.g., the CBS eye). Still other techniques of displaying the embedded indicia are also possible.  
         [0027]    The customer  14  watching the television  12  views the embedded indicia on the television  12  (block  202 ). Having an interest in the item advertised, the customer  14  actuates the remote control device  16 , copying the embedded indicia (block  204 ). For example, if the embedded indicia were #2334, the customer  14  would punch that sequence of keys on the remote control device  16 . As noted above, the remote control device  16  communicates with the set top box  10 . Set top box  10  communicates with the call center, and specifically the message connection server  106  through the managed portal network  102  (block  206 ). This communication includes the IP address of the set top box  10 . The call center, and specifically the message connection server  106  routes the call to the appropriate CSR station  120  based on the indicia (block  208 ). For example, if the advertisement was a FORD EXPLORER commercial, the code tells the message connection server  106  that the customer  14  is interested in a FORD EXPLORER, and the call is routed to a CSR station  120  having a sales agent knowledgeable about FORD EXPLORERs.  
         [0028]    Because the remote control device  16  may have been actuated in error, the CSR station  120  sends a query to the customer  14  asking if they would like to begin the communication (block  210 ). Note that the CSR station  120  has the IP address of the set top box  10  that placed the call, so this return call is easily enabled. Customer  14  then accepts the incoming call from the CSR station  120  (block  212 ). If the customer has a memory device attached to the television  12 , it may be possible for the customer to pause the present programming that they are watching so as to conclude the transaction without missing any of the show that they were watching. Such memory devices are commercially available under the brand name TIVO.  
         [0029]    The sales agent at the CSR station  120  now effectively takes over the television  12  of the customer  14 . A videophone communication link is established. An image of the sales agent appears on the television  12  (FIG. 1), while the customer  14  is filmed by the camera  36  and this image is transmitted to the sales agent at the CSR  120 . The sales agent may split the screen of the television  12  and display multimedia content to the customer  14  to illustrate the sales pitch (block  214 ). Preplanned multimedia messages may be displayed, web pages may be accessed, or other content may be sent to the customer to help the sales agent provide the sales pitch. This may be done by treating the television  12  as a remote desktop or other comparable techniques. One such technique comprises the T120 collaboration standards or the like. If all goes well for the sales agent, the customer  14  consents to the sale and the sales agent may solicit payment information from the customer  14  (block  216 ). Further, the sales agent may identify with particularity the product the customer is purchasing by the SKU number (block  218 ). The sales agent may interact with the commerce engine  130  during the sales pitch entering the customer  14 &#39;s information as solicited. The commerce engine  130  may likewise interact with an external courier&#39;s web site such as FEDERAL EXPRESS or UPS to acquire a shipping number and confirm a shipping date (block  220 ).  
         [0030]    After completion of the sales interaction, the CSR station  120  closes the link to the set top box  10  (block  222 ). Any necessary accounting is done (block  224 ). This may include securing authorization from a credit card company, accounting within the service provider for the transaction, commissions provided to the sales agent, and the like. The product is then shipped to the customer  14  (block  226 ). As another optional payment vehicle, the call center may be equipped to handle electronic “wallet” transactions. These electronic wallet features offer a secure and direct method of payment with an Internet enabled financial settlement partner such as Bank of America or other major financial institutions.  
         [0031]    In an alternate embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 5, the same initial process of coordinating the advertising and the broadcasting occurs and the broadcaster sends the advertisement (block  250 ). Again, this advertisement may be a commercial. The customer  14  views the advertisement (block  252 ) and actuates the remote control device  16  (block  254 ). This time, the set top box retrieves information about the channel the customer  14  is watching and a time stamp. For example, the set top box  10  retrieves channel 6 at 4:12 PM. The set top box initiates a call to the call center and specifically the message connection server  106 , sending the retrieved information along with the IP address of the set top box beginning the inquiry (block  256 ).  
         [0032]    The call center, and particularly the message connection server  106  routes the call to the appropriate CSR station based on the information provided (block  258 ). This is accomplished by referencing a look up table or comparable database to ascertain that the channel viewed at that particular time contained an advertisement for a particular product. The call is then routed to a sales agent trained to sell that product. For example, at 4:12 PM on channel 6, an EDDIE BAUER commercial was airing, so the call is connected to an EDDIE BAUER trained sales agent at a CSR station  120 .  
         [0033]    The CSR station  120  sends an inquiry as to whether the customer  14  wishes to begin communication (block  260 ). The customer  14  may then accept the incoming call from the CSR station  120  (block  262 ). In one embodiment, the customer  14  does not see the sales agent himself, but rather a “genie” such as those programmed by LIPSinc of Research Triangle Park, N.C. and documented at www.lipsinc.com may be interposed (block  264 ). These genies may be animated heads that speak for the sales agent. The genie may be made to speak by typing in the text that is to be spoken, through voice recognition software or the like as needed or desired. The genie may be used to reinforce a trademark or present a particular corporate image. For example, DISNEY may wish to have MICKEY MOUSE be their spokesperson for all these transactions. A sales agent qualified to know the full line of products sold in DISNEY STORES may still interface with the customer  14 , but through the MICKEY MOUSE genie.  
         [0034]    CSR station  120  sends content to television  12  by way of the set top box  10  including the sales pitch (block  266 ). As previously described, the sales pitch may involve a multimedia presentation by which the sales agent (with or without the genie) sells the product or service to the customer  14 . The screen of the television  12  may be split so that multiple information streams may be presented concurrently or in different formats as needed or desired.  
         [0035]    The remaining steps are very similar to that already described. The sales agent solicits payment information (block  268 ); the SKU is identified (block  270 ); and the shipping is confirmed (block  272 ) with the courier. After completion of the transaction the CSR station  120  closes the link (block  274 ); any accounting is performed (block  276 ); and the product or service is shipped to the customer  14  (block  278 ).  
         [0036]    A third embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 6. This embodiment is more sophisticated still. After the initial coordination between the advertisers and the broadcasters, the broadcaster airs the advertisement (block  300 ). The customer  14  views the advertisement (block  302 ). In this embodiment, the customer  14  positions a curser or pointer over an item displayed in the advertisement and actuates the remote control device  16  (block  304 ). Set top box  10  captures the channel, time stamp and x-y coordinate of the curser/pointer on the screen of the television. The capturing of the x-y coordinate may be done with many conventional display/mouse drivers such as are commonly used in the computer industry. Alternatively, the pointer may be an IR signal that is detected on the television screen and translated into an x-y coordinate. Having acquired the desired information, the set top box  10  initiates a connection to the call center, and specifically to the message connection server  106  and sends the captured information thereto (block  306 ).  
         [0037]    The call center process the captured information, perhaps using a look up table or other database to determine what product was being aired at that particular x-y coordinate, on that channel, at that time (block  308 ). Of course, threshold values may be used so that misaimed selections may still be assumed to be close enough to a valid target. The call center in one embodiment may not route the call to a sales agent within the managed portal network  102 , but rather routes the call to a sales agent associated with a merchant outside the managed portal network  102  (block  310 ). The outside merchant then connects to the customer  14  (block  312 ) through the managed portal network  102 . In particular, the outside merchant through an audiovisual connection comparable to that described above pushes content to the customer  14  (block  314 ). The difference here is rather than run the entire transaction and the sales activity, the service provider derives revenue by the pass through function. While perhaps not as valuable as controlling the whole sale, it may make more strategic sense to pass a customer  14  through the managed portal network  102  to an outside merchant who already has a viable sales force and call center.  
         [0038]    Again the final steps are fairly comparable to the closing steps described above except that the outside merchant solicits payment information (block  316 ); identifies the SKU (block  318 ); and arranges shipping (block  320 ). The link is then closed (block  322 ); any accounting is performed (block  324 ) and the outside merchant ships the product (block  326 ).  
         [0039]    Note that while the processes described above are contemplated as being initiated during commercials, it is possible that the customer  14  may actuate the remote during normal shows. This is alluded to in block  300  of FIG. 6. For example, shows could have embedded indicia linked to clothing actors are wearing, products they are consuming or the like. Again these codes could be selectively viewable, and upon viewing the customer  14  could enter the appropriate code. Likewise, for the second embodiment, the customer could see a show and just actuate the remote control device  16  to connect the customer  14  to the call center. The call center may screen the customer  14 , perhaps through a person, through menu selection, or through voice recognition software as to what on the screen caused the customer  14  to actuate the remote control device  16 . The call could then be routed appropriately. For example, on a particular show on channel 8 at 3:07 PM, the customer  14  views an actor driving a FORD EXPLORER, drinking a COKE, and wearing AMERICAN EAGLE clothes. The customer  14  actuates the remote control device  16 . The call center is contacted and asks if the customer  14  wishes to be connected to a sales agent. The customer  14  replies affirmatively. The call center then performs its look up and determines the three products displayed at that time on that channel. The call center then asks the customer in which of the three products the customer is interested. The call is routed appropriately depending on the reply of the customer  14 . This inquiry stage is eliminated in the curser model because the call center would know exactly what the customer  14  had clicked on and be able to route the call directly based on the original actuation. Thus, for the purposes of the present invention, the term “advertisement” includes shows which would not normally be considered an advertisement under the normal understanding of that term. This is not a contrary understanding of the term, because many companies pay for product placement advertising in shows as it presently stands.  
         [0040]    Note further that while the processes of FIGS. 4-6 are described as linear processes, because humans are involved, many of the steps may be rearranged to suit the needs of the parties involved. The present flow charts are meant to be illustrative and not limiting. Further, many of the features of the three flow charts may be mixed and matched. The genie of the second embodiment may be used with either the first or third embodiments. The outsourcing of the sales agent to outside merchants may likewise be done with either the first or second embodiments. Other variables may be changed as needed or desired to achieve the claimed functionality.  
         [0041]    As an exemplary setup, the satellite receiver  38  may comprise a conventional RCA receiver with an RCA satellite dish acting as the antenna. As is conventional a coaxial cable or other suitable communicative connector may connect these two devices. The RCA receiver may be connected to an AGP ATI 128 RAGE PRO TV tuner&#39;s TV In port by a coaxial cable and thence through an AGP ATI 128 RAGE PRO chipset to the television  10  by an S-video cable. In this example, suitable software would comprise the DIRECTV Embedded Receiver Control Application, an operating system such as WINDOWS 98SE, the ATI TV Tuner, the ATI RAGE PRO 128 driver, and DIRECTX 7.0a. Remote control device  16  may comprise a wireless remote keyboard/pointer such as Model #IR9703-RC. Remote control receiver  40  may be a complementary wireless receiver Model #IR9703-RC.  
         [0042]    Set top box  10  may further interface in this embodiment through the appropriate PS/2 connections with a keyboard and/or mouse if desired. Controller  30  may be an Intel BX PIII 700 MHz motherboard running WINDOWS 98SE. Stored in memory is a JAVA application that receives the request from the remote control receiver  40 . It sends a request to the satellite receiver  38  and its software. In the event that the satellite receiver  38  is contained in a separate unit, the request may be through a cable. That request is asking for the channel and programming information presently being displayed on the television  12 . Upon return of the information, the controller  30  launches a web browser such as INTERNET EXPLORER™ or NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR™. The web browser launches an HTTP request to the remote call center with the channel information and address information. Based on the channel and programming information, the call center, and particularly the message connection server  106  routes the incoming call to the appropriate CSR station  120 . In a land based embodiment, this HTTP request goes out from the set top box  10  through a PCI port adapted to use a COMPAQ FAST ETHERNET ADAPTER, over an ALCATEL 1000 DSL MODEM to the managed portal network  102  and specifically to message connection server  106 . Once the potential customer  14  is connected, a bi-directional videophone call is established through the television  12  and the camera  36 . A conventional H 323 video conferencing protocol may be used to enable this feature. Then, as previously described in the incorporated applications, the sales agent may push multi-media content through the communication link to the television  12  to consummate the sale. It should be appreciated that the particular hardware components listed here do allow the device to function as desired, but the present invention is not limited to such as setup. Rather other components may be substituted as needed or desired to achieve a smoother picture, a more detailed resolution, or the like if needed or desired.  
         [0043]    The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the scope and the essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are therefore to be construed in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.