Patent ID: 8011574

Claim:
An apparatus for ordering a product via an internetwork, the internetwork formed by a plurality of computers and servers, the apparatus comprising: (a) a consumer's computer including a network interface for connecting to the internetwork, a processing unit coupled to the network interface, and a storage medium coupled to the processing unit, the storage medium containing program code executed by the processing unit for placing an order for the product by: (i) establishing a connection to a billing server via an internetwork communication link; (ii) transferring the order to the billing server via the internetwork communication link; (iii) terminating the connection to the billing server via the internetwork communication link after a transaction identifier that identifies the order placed by the consumer's computer has been received from the billing server; (iv) establishing a connection to the billing server via a premium-rate telephone communication link; and (v) transferring the transaction identifier back to the billing server via the premium-rate telephone communication link; and (b) a billing server including a network interface for connecting to the internetwork, a processing unit coupled to the network interface, and a storage medium coupled to the processing unit, the storage medium containing program code executed by the processing unit for processing the order for the product placed by the consumer's computer by transferring the transaction identifier, which identifies the order placed by the consumer's computer, to the consumer's computer via the internetwork communication link.