Patent ID: 7343174

Claim:
A system comprising: a customer authentication and payment server; a merchant data server, the merchant data server coupled to a public data network, the public data network coupled to the customer authentication and payment server; a merchant network coupled to the merchant data server; and a merchant station coupled to the merchant network, the merchant station including a communication interface to provide for adhoc wireless communication between the merchant data server and wireless communication devices of customers located within a wireless coverage area, the merchant station adapted to provide an order selection menu to the wireless communication devices to facilitate a transaction, the order selection menu comprising a text description and an image associated with at least one item on the order selection menu; wherein at least one of the customers is located within a vehicle having a telematics control unit; wherein a merchant representative, via the merchant station and the wireless communication interface, may communicate with the customer via the telematics control unit; and wherein data communicated between the telematics control unit and the merchant server has an XML type data format.