Patent ID: 8555407

Claim:
An on-demand communication system, comprising: a consumer device configured to generate a request for information; a provider device configured to generate a provider response that is responsive to the request for information; an on-demand directory service configured to store provider information and an access control policy, the access control policy including a predetermined condition of a business or government; an on-demand visibility service configured to be a broker between the consumer device and provider device, receive requests for information from the consumer, request a list of appropriate providers from the on-demand directory service based on the provider information and the access control policy, transmit a provider query to a select provider, receive the provider response responsive to the provider query, and transmit an answer to the request for information to the consumer, wherein the access control policy comprises information on an availability of a provider device, so that the on-demand visibility service only transmits the provider queries to a particular provider when the access control policy indicates that the particular provider is available.