Patent Publication Number: US-2002010645-A1

Title: Backend commerce engine

Description:
Related Applications  
     [0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 09/680,796, filed Oct. 06, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 09/614,399, filed Jul. 12, 2000. The present application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 09/750,954, filed  28  Dec. 28, 2000, as well as a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 09/842,997, filed  26  Apr. 26, 2001 entitled Method to Attract Consumers to a Sales Agent. The disclosures of these four applications are incorporated by reference in their entireties as if set forth fully herein. 
    
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] Field of the Invention  
       [0003] The present invention is directed to a system that enables multiple portals to access a call center for the provision of content to consumers at the multiple portals so that a sale may be consummated.  
       [0004] Description of the Related Art  
       [0005] Downtown department stores stand as hollow shells on many main streets throughout the United States. The customers and businesses have fled to strip malls and outlet complexes. Revitalization plans have come and gone, without much success in many cities.  
       [0006] The relocated businesses are also experiencing difficulty as tight labor markets move trained sales agents from retail environments to other more lucrative lines of work such as information technology. These businesses have also seen slumps in revenue as Internet based businesses have come online and become viable competitors.  
       [0007] Internet companies are likewise experiencing difficulties, having experienced numerous high profile flameouts, such as the recent failure of pets.com. Internet companies are failing from, in part, flawed business plans, poorly designed, non-friendly web page layouts, difficult ordering processes, and a lack of personal interaction. Statistics showed that some sixty to eighty percent of online transactions were not completed in 2000.  
       [0008] GateLinx, Corp., assignee of the present invention, has proposed several methods in the previously incorporated parent applications of improving sales to potential consumers through a number of portals including, among others, a kiosk, a set top box, and an incentive based piece of software installed on a computer. The common theme of the patent applications directed to these inventions is the use of a call center staffed by trained sales agents that may use a variety of techniques to push content to the potential consumer to help complete the sale. The present invention focuses on the backend of these portals and how the potential consumer communicates with the sales agent, regardless of the portal used.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009] The present invention comprises using a call center to enable sales agents to push content to a potential consumer at a portal to promote a good or service. The sales agents are equipped with software resources that provide information about the consumer to the sales agent to promote up-sell and cross-sell options.  
       [0010] A potential consumer approaches a portal, such as a kiosk, computer, or set top box and makes a “call” to a call center. In one embodiment, the potential consumer is connected to a sales agent associated with that call center. Information relating to the potential consumer is concurrently passed to the sales agent and a commerce server. The commerce server then provides information to the sales agent about what sort of up-sell and cross-sell options might be appropriate for this particular potential consumer. The sales agent may then use that information to present a multi-media, interactive sales presentation to the potential consumer in an effort to consummate the sale.  
       [0011] In another embodiment, a potential consumer is concurrently routed to the commerce server and to a third party vendor with whom the call center has a contract. The third party vendor may allow the potential consumer to contact one of their in-house trained sales agents and establish a high bandwidth connection between the potential consumer portal and the sales agent. The call center maintains a record of how long the potential consumer is connected to the third party sales agent. The commerce server may provide the third party sales agent with information comparable to that provided to the other sales agents for the purpose of allowing the sales agent to pick information to send to the potential consumer. After the communication link is terminated, the third party may be billed by the call center based on the amount of time that the connection was made. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0012]FIG. 1 illustrates a network of portals connected to a call center of the present invention;  
     [0013]FIG. 2 illustrates a kiosk that may serve as a portal for use in with the network of FIG. 1;  
     [0014]FIG. 3 illustrates a television set top box that may serve as a portal for use with the network of FIG. 1;  
     [0015]FIG. 4 illustrates a computer that may serve as a portal for use with the network of FIG. 1;  
     [0016]FIG. 5 illustrates a functional block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a sales agent&#39;s station;  
     [0017]FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a method by which the present invention works; and  
     [0018]FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart diagram of a second embodiment of a method by which the present invention works. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0019] The present invention is directed to a sales technique by which potential consumers are put into contact with visual representations of a remotely positioned sales agent. The sales agent pushes content to the potential consumer to facilitate the sale and also solicits information about the potential consumer to determine possible up-sale and cross-sale opportunities. To this end, a network must be in place to allow the communication between the sales agent and the potential consumer. Such a network is illustrated in FIG. 1, referenced generally by communication system  10 . Communication system  10  may include a managed portal network  12  operated by a service provider operating according to the present invention, although this need not be true. Managed portal network  12  interfaces with the Internet  14  and particularly with the World Wide Web (www). A call center is also associated with the managed portal network  12 . This call center may be comparable to that disclosed in the parent 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  16 , which may double as an Internet connection server, an agent interaction server  18 , and an ACD server  20  may also form part of the managed portal network  12 . Further, a plurality of customer service representative (CSR) stations  50  and supervisor stations  48  (only one shown) may be included within the managed portal network  12 . Still further, a commerce server  22  may be part of the managed portal network  12 . It should be appreciated that the communicative links between elements of the managed portal network  12  are high bandwidth, high speed connections such as T 1  lines, E 1  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.  
     [0020] The supervisor station  48  may be enabled such that the supervisor attending that station  48  may monitor the CSR stations  50  by listening in on calls placed thereto, keyboard stroke detection, or other conventional supervising techniques. The supervisor stations  48  may be proximate to or remote from the CSR stations  50  as needed or desired.  
     [0021] Managed portal network  12  may further be connected to a third party&#39;s server  40  by appropriate communicative links. The third party may be a vendor or other business that wishes to use parts of the services provided by the managed portal network  12  but employ their own sales agents using third party CSR stations  42 . CSR stations  42  and  50  will be explained in greater detail below.  
     [0022] Commerce server  22  may be a conventional data processing unit having a microprocessor or other circuit based intelligence with memory units attached thereto. Commerce service  22  serves the purpose of storing multi-media content for later use by the sales agents at CSR stations  50 . This multi-media content may include web pages, data files, three dimensional images, graphical images, or the like as needed or desired. It is expected that a service provider who runs the call center will approach vendors and cooperatively create this content. In one embodiment, the service provider may import a product catalog from the vendor (third party host  40 ) and arrange images, price information, and descriptive text to fit a branded image for the service provider. In addition to the images and web pages, audio files may also be available. Likewise, it is possible that the service provider or vendor may have certain suggested approaches to selling certain goods or services and therefore scripts may be provided for the sales agent. In another embodiment, the vendor may create all of the data, images, and other content in house and merely provide copies of this information to the service provider for storage on the commerce server  22 .  
     [0023] Commerce server  22  may additionally act to facilitate interaction with a courier service such as UPS, FEDERAL EXPRESS, or the like. In addition to that function, the commerce server  22  may be designed handle accounting functions such as processing credit card orders, receiving bank account information, or other financial and/or accounting services if needed or desired.  
     [0024] A plurality of portals  100 ,  200 ,  300  may be connected directly to the managed portal network  12 , indirectly through the Internet  14 , such as through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) such as Time Warner&#39;s Roadrunner service, aol.com, Bellsouth.net, or through some other medium. Portal  100  may be a network kiosk  100 . Portal  200  may be a computer loaded with the appropriate software. Portal  300  may be a set top box operating in conjunction with a television. Each portal will be explained in greater detail below. Note that these portals  100 ,  200 ,  300  are intended to be exemplary and nonlimiting. Servers  16 ,  18 , and  20  act to route messages from portals  100 ,  200 ,  300  to CSR stations  42 ,  50  and to the commerce server  22  as needed and as explained in greater detail below.  
     [0025] The portals  100 ,  200 ,  300  of the present invention are set forth with reference to FIGS.  2 - 4 . These portals  100 ,  200 ,  300  are designed to help potential consumers contact the sales agents so that a sale may be promoted, customer service secured, or other communication take place as needed or desired.  
     [0026] Portal  100  may comprise a network kiosk  100  as illustrated in FIG. 2. Network kiosk  100  may include surface indicia  102  such as company logos, banners, promotional phrases or the like. Further, to promote the eye candy feel of the network kiosk  100 , lights  104  may be positioned strategically throughout the network kiosk  100 . Further, top lights  106  may also be incorporated into the network kiosk  100 . Top lights  106  may be spotlights with indicia displayed thereon (not shown), lasers, or the like, as needed or desired. Still further, a mock up of the product  108  sold through the network kiosk  100  may also be positioned on the top of the network kiosk  100 . For example, if the network kiosk  100  were designed to promote DIRECTV and its associated satellites, then the surface indicia  102  may state DIRECTV and the logos shown in the lights  106  may state the same. Further, the product  108  may be a real satellite dish or mock up of a satellite dish. Other arrangements are also possible, however, the overarching concept behind the network kiosk  100  is to attract the eye and draw customers to the network kiosk  100 . Thus, any ornamentation should preferably be designed to do such. For example, a scrolling text bar (not shown) could surround the top of the network kiosk  100 .  
     [0027] While the dimensions of the network kiosk  100  are not material to the present invention, an exemplary embodiment has a height of approximately seven feet tall and a diameter of approximately ten feet. While the network kiosk  100  as shown is round, other shapes and sizes are also within the scope of the present invention.  
     [0028] Multiple customer interaction stations  110  (only one shown) may be included in a network kiosk  100 . Each customer interaction station  110  may include a primary display  112 , which in an exemplary embodiment is a computer monitor. Alternatively, a flat, high definition, television screen such as that sold by PHILIPS, SONY, or the like may be used. Supplemental side displays  114 A and  114 B may also be positioned, one on either side of the primary display  112 . A top display (not shown) may be positioned above the primary display  112  or on the ceiling of the customer interaction station  110 . Speakers  118  may further be positioned advantageously about the customer interaction station  110 . In an exemplary embodiment, full stereo sound capabilities are available in the customer interaction station  110 . Other output devices may also be provided as needed or desired to convey information to customers. For example, tactile boards for the visually impaired or other devices may be incorporated into the customer interaction station  110 .  
     [0029] As the purpose of the customer interaction station  110  is customer interaction, each customer interaction station  110  may include customer inputs  120  as well. In particular, a keyboard  122 , a mouse  124 , and microphone  126  may be provided on a table-like area  128 . While a mouse  124  is particularly contemplated, equivalently, a joystick, a roller ball, an electronic writing pad, a touchpad, or the like may be substituted or provided in addition thereto. Such customer inputs  120  may be provided on both the left and right hand sides of the keyboard  122  to accommodate left and right-handed users. Further, the arrangement of customer inputs  120  may preferably be arranged so as to provide an ergonomic environment.  
     [0030] Each customer interaction station  110  may further include customer payment devices  130 , which may include a check reader/acceptor  132 , a magnetic card reader  134 , a cash acceptor  136 , or the like as needed or desired. The magnetic card reader  134  may be a swipe type device or an insert type device, such as are commonly found on Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Alternatively, a wireless payment device may be used. Such a wireless payment device is commonly seen on heavily traveled toll roads and comprises an interrogator in the customer interaction station  110  and a transponder with account information thereon in possession of the customer. As such devices are conventional, further discussion thereof will be omitted.  
     [0031] A high bandwidth communications link  150  is also included in the portal  100 . Since each high definition video signal presently requires approximately 180 MHz, it should be appreciated that each customer interaction station  110  may require approximately 1 GHz of bandwidth to provide adequate reception of incoming signals and transmission of outgoing signals. The high bandwidth communications link  150 , while shown as a wirebased link, may alternatively be a wireless communications link and instead of a wire and plug (as shown), an antenna may equivalently be provided. Further, wire, in this context, should be interpreted as including fiber optic solutions.  
     [0032] While not shown, it is possible that each customer interaction station  110  may include a controller, such as a microprocessor or other local device that acts as a local intelligence for the customer interaction station  110 . Such a controller may include communications software and/or hardware to control the communications link  150 . Alternatively, a single controller may be provided for the entire portal  100 . As another alternative, each customer interaction station  110  may be a “dumb” terminal, with all functions controlled from a remote location.  
     [0033] Portal  200  comprises a set top box, and is illustrated in FIG. 3. Set top box  200  is illustrated positioned atop a television  202  for viewing by a consumer in the comfort of their home.  
     [0034] The consumer may be equipped with a remote control device  206  that wirelessly communicates with the set top box  200  and/or the television  202 . Television  202  may be capable of operating with split screens  208  and have speakers  210 . As an alternative to split screens  208 , comparable technology such as picture-in-a-picture, overlay, or the like, may be substituted.  
     [0035] Set top box  200  may comprise a central processing unit such as an INTEL PENTIUM II, AMD K 6 , or the like microprocessor (or better) with associated motherboard. Potentially positioned on the same motherboard would be memory that may be any appropriate memory such as RAM, ROM, or the like. Set top box  200  may further comprise a microphone, a camera  204 , a satellite receiver, and a remote control unit receiver. Optionally, set top box  200  may still further comprise a television receiver, a cable receiver, a DVD player, a CD player, and a VHS player. 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  200 .  
     [0036] Further, software (not shown explicitly) may be stored in the memory of the set top box  200 . The software may act to control the communication between the various components as well as run some of the functionality of the present invention.  
     [0037] 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 when needed.  
     [0038] Portal  300  may comprise a personal computer or other similar data processing device, and is illustrated in FIG. 4. Computer  300  may comprise a display  302 , a desk unit  304  housing a motherboard and microcontroller such as an INTEL PENTIUM IV or the like, a keyboard  306 , a mouse  308 , a microphone  310 , a camera  312 , a speaker  314 , and other paraphernalia as is well understood. Further, the desk unit  304  may comprise a floppy disc drive  316  and a CD-drive  318  capable of receiving computer readable media such as a disk  320  and a CD  322  respectively. The relevant portions of the software of the present invention may be stored on the computer readable media  320 ,  322  as needed or desired. Note that the software may alternatively be preinstalled on the hard drive of the desk unit  304  or may be downloaded from a remote source such as the Internet  14 .  
     [0039] Sales agents are well equipped to handle incoming calls from any of these portals  100 ,  200 ,  300 . CSR station  50  is illustrated in FIG. 5, with the understanding that the CSR station  42  is substantially identical. CSR station  50  is based on a standard IBM compatible Pentium or other comparable computer  501 . Standard parts of the computer  501  are the CPU, memory, a video card, and a hard drive. Computer  501  may operate on WINDOWS or some other comparable operating system.  
     [0040] The CPU communicates via bus  510  with network adapter  502  such as the INTEL ETHEREXPRESS  16 TP. Network adapter  502  connects to an Ethernet backbone  511 , which carries all administration data as well as relevant multimedia information.  
     [0041] Voice traffic is sent to audio-board  503  (such as the ACER S 23 ) which connects to the telephone headset (or speaker and microphone)  508 . The audio-board translates the digitized audio to an analog signal utilizing industry standard codecs such as MICROSOFT PCM, ADPCM, or Group Special Mobile (GSM) compression algorithm set by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute, which are then played via the speaker of the headset  508 . Similarly, analog audio generated by the microphone of the headset  508  is converted by the audio-board to a digital format utilizing, for example, the above-mentioned codecs. The resulting digital signal is packetized by computer  501  and forwarded to network adapter  502  to be sent to a caller. As an option, the outgoing signal can be modified by digital signal processing means utilizing voice morphing techniques to modify an agent&#39;s voice.  
     [0042] Video traffic is routed to video capture board  505 , such as Creative Labs Video Blaster SE  100 , where the data is decoded utilizing industry standard codecs such as Crystal Net SFM Codec ( 32 ) or NSVIDEO™ V2.1 Gray 8-bit included with a package such as CONNECTIX VIDEOPHONE for display on monitor  506 . Similarly, video arriving from camera  509  is encoded, for example, by the above-mentioned codecs. Video data can consist of information such as caller and/or agent images or images of objects of interest that the caller and/or agent put in front of the camera  509  or other camera. As an option, the outgoing video signal can be modified by digital signal processing means utilizing image morphing techniques to modify an agent&#39;s image.  
     [0043] As a further option, the video image of the sales agent may be modified to be a “genie” such as that provided by LIPSInc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C. Details of this “genie” technology may be located at www.lipsinc.com. This may be appropriate where a vendor wishes a particular brand image associate with a product or service. For example, DISNEY may wish to have a talking head of MICKEY MOUSE interact with the potential consumer rather than a normal human. This may also be done for less altruistic reasons such as to cover up the appearance of a sales agent who, while technically competent, would not appeal to a target audience group. Of course, other reasons for using such a genie are also contemplated and fall within the scope of the present invention.  
     [0044] In addition to the video signal of the camera  509 , it is expected that the sales agent may use images from the commerce server  22  or other source to push content to the potential consumer. The call center specifically allows the sales agent to co-op the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  in such a fashion that the sales agent may control images displayed at the portal,  100 ,  200 ,  300 . In this manner, a web page may be displayed and links there from actuated so that the potential consumer may receive more content to help complete the sale.  
     [0045] Standard video monitor  506 , such as SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 17GLS, is used to display information about callers, wait queues, and database information related to the respective service to be provided by the agent to the caller. If the call is made from the appropriate portal  100 ,  200 ,  300 , the agent can view the caller&#39;s displays. In the event a call is made from a portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  equipped with a camera, the agent can view the caller&#39;s image. All the information above appears in separate windows, which can be arranged by the agent according to her preferences. Keyboard and mouse  507 , such as standard MICROSOFT keyboards and mice, are used as input devices.  
     [0046] Ethernet backbone  511  connects the CSR station  50  to a database  512  that may be located conceptually on ACD server  20 , or commerce server  22  but may be located on any accessible memory device. Database  512  may be a living database in that every sales agent may enter information elicited during a sales opportunity. The types of information are essentially limitless, but are preferably of the sort that improve sales opportunities. This may include demographics, e.g., seventy-two percent of the callers are male and twenty-four percent are between eighteen and twenty-five. This may also include information about what sort of products in which the potential consumer was initially interested, what sort of products the potential consumer also considered, potential upsales or cross-sales based on a given product, and the like. For sales opportunities where there is a bi-directional video connection, the sales agent may also enter information about the appearance of the potential consumer, as well as environmental data. E.g., the person has a dog, a female roommate, a big leather couch, and wears TOMMY HILFIGER clothes. At a minimum, the sales agent may enter caller identification information. E.g., potential consumer Mr. Smith called from (919)  555-1111, 133  Anywhere Street, Erehwon, N.C., 27602. This may be mined, compiled, manipulated and updated to detect new trends in the marketplace, consumer buying habits, and the like, as well understood in the advertising industry. In addition to entering this information, the sales agents may also draw upon this information in database  512  to present up-sales and cross-sale opportunities to potential consumers. E.g., “While you are interested in this $200 digital camera, this $450 digital camera offers the following additional features, might you be interested in the second?” or “This television set looks wonderful with this DVD player, which we sell for only an additional $100, might you be interested in that as well today?” The more information in the database, the better informed the sales agent is about what sort alternate sales opportunities may exist. Note that this is different from a script that many call centers use, in that the database  512  evolves over time to reflect the changing trends in the marketplace and does not force a potential consumer down a particular path. Note that the database  512  may be programmed to make estimates of desirable alternate sales opportunities, but could merely present the statistics and let the sales agent make the determination about what sort of alternate sales to present to the potential consumer.  
     [0047] Note that this database is also accessible from third party CSR stations  42 , and may be used by those sales agents in the same fashion as described above.  
     [0048] (Are we missing anything here?)  
     [0049] Against this backdrop, the methodology of the present invention may be explored. In particular, FIG. 6 illustrates a first embodiment of a method of using the present invention. A potential consumer approaches a portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  (block  600 ). This may be, for example, approaching a kiosk  100  in a mall, approaching their television set top box  200 , approaching their home computer  300 , or other portal as needed or desired. This approach may be done with a particular potential purchase in mind, a fact-finding mission in mind, a customer service inquiry, or the like. The potential consumer uses the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  to place a “call” to the call center (block  602 ). As discussed in the incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,762 patent, this “call” may be telephonic, computer, or televideo as needed or desired depending on the facilities at the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300 .  
     [0050] Coupled to the “call” may be information about what sort of product or service the potential consumer has expressed interest, a call source identifier, a portal system capabilities description, and other information that may be available. Based on this information, the call is routed to an appropriate call center agent at a CSR station  50  and to the commerce server  22  simultaneously (block  604 ). The commerce server  22  provides web pages and other information to the sales agent (block  606 ). The sales agent then communicatively connects to the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  (block  608 ).  
     [0051] The sales agent may be presented with an image of the potential consumer from the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300 , or at a minimum may have the opportunity to ask the potential consumer some questions about themselves. The elicited answers or the observed characteristics may then be input into the database  512  (block  610 ). This information can be as simple as “male, age 27, name Jim Smith” or as complex as “Jim Smith appears in a living room with a female companion (wife?) and two dogs. The sofa is leather and there is nice artwork on the walls. The place is immaculate and they are wearing Tommy Hilfiger clothes.” 
     [0052] The sales agent then responds to the potential consumer&#39;s inquiry. If the inquiry is a customer service call, then the opportunities for sales may be limited. This is not always true because a potentially valid response to such an inquiry would be “We don&#39;t support that model anymore, but many of our customers are upgrading the Model X2001, could I tell you about those features” or the like. If the potential consumer called to inquire about a purchase, this transition may be even smoother. The sales agent then presents a multimedia sales presentation (or service response) to the potential consumer based in part on the information received from the commerce server  22  (block  612 ). This may include pushing web pages or other data files to the consumer for viewing. As the U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,762 patent describes, the sales agent may control the remote display on the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  and control what the potential consumer sees. For those portals without video capabilities, the sales agent may still use the information from the commerce server  22  to promote the sale in the most appropriate manner.  
     [0053] The sales agent has the opportunity to make up-sales and/or cross-sales pitches to the potential consumer as part of the presentation (block  614 ). For example, “this car comes with air conditioning standard, but can I interest you in any of our sun roofs?” 
     [0054] If the sale is not made (block  616 ), for whatever reason, the process may end or iterate with respect to a different good or service. If however, the sale is made (block  616 ), the sales agent then may consummate the sale (block  618 ). This may include securing payment information from the consumer, checking inventory, arranging shipping, other accounting steps, and the like as needed or desired. Shipping information may be performed by the commerce server  22  contacting a web site of a third party courier such as UPS, FEDERAL EXPRESS, or the like as needed or desired.  
     [0055] Note that the precise order of many of these events need not be linear as illustrated in the flow chart of FIG. 6, or the order may be changed about and still fall within the scope of the present invention. For example, the sales agent may connect to the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  concurrently with or after receiving the information from the commerce server  22 .  
     [0056] Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 7. This process is similar to that illustrated with respect to FIG. 6 in that a potential consumer approaches a portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  (block  600 ) and places a “call” to the call center (block  602 ). In this embodiment, the potential consumer is inquiring about a good or service which the service provider does not directly sell, but rather acts as an intermediary for a third party seller. Thus, while the call does reach the call center, the call is in reality passed to the third party host  40  and the commerce server  22  (block  650 ). The third party host  40  and the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  then secure a high data rate connection (block  652 ). This high data rate connection is intended for the conveyance of video signals, although other data may also be transmitted thereacross. In contrast to the previous embodiment, this high data rate connection need not pass through the managed portal network  12  to get to the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300 , but rather may be a peer-to-peer connection. This eases the load on the managed portal network  12 .  
     [0057] The call center, most probably the message connection server  16 , tracks the third party host  40  to portal  100 ,  200 ,  300  connection for the amount of time connected (block  654 ). If the call is disrupted, the message connection server  16  may facilitate re-establishment of the call. Likewise, it is not expected that the service provider allow this pass through service out of charity. Rather, it is expected that the third party will pay the service provider based on the time for which there was a connection between the third party host  40  and the portal  100 ,  200 ,  300 .  
     [0058] A sales agent located at the third party CSR  42  receives information from the commerce server  22 , including web pages, data files, and the like as described above (block  656 ). During the call, the third party sales agent may enter information into the database  512  (block  658 ). This is done for the reasons explicated above. The third party sales agent presents a multimedia sales presentation to the potential consumer drawing from information at the call center, the third party host  40 , the commerce server  22  and the database  512  as needed or desired (block  660 ).  
     [0059] The third party sales agent presents any up-sell or cross-sell opportunities to the potential consumer as appropriate (block  662 ). If a sale is not made (block  664 ), the process may end or iterate as needed or desired. If a sale is made (block  664 ), the sale may be consummated (block  666 ). This may include the accounting described above, as well as paying a commission to the service provider. This commission may be justified in that but for the service provider&#39;s intervention, no sale may have been made. Other justifications and selling points will readily be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.  
     [0060] Again, the precise order of events of the flow chart are exemplary and may be rearranged within reason without departing from the scope of the present invention.  
     [0061] 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.