Patent ID: 8738727

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: establishing by a computer system a text based communication channel between a consumer and a service provider; generating information for a graphical user interface that when rendered on a display device depicts an indicator of availability of the service provider for a phone conversation with the consumer, with the indicator either indicating that the service provider is available for the phone conversation or indicating that the service provider is unavailable for the phone conversation; receiving, by the computer system, a telephone number provided by the consumer through the graphical user interface; and establishing, using the telephone number provided by the consumer, a telephonic communication channel between a device of the service provider and a device of the consumer; wherein the computer system is operable to perform first operations and second operations; wherein the first operations comprise: providing a first authentication number to the consumer; receiving an input from the consumer; and verifying the consumer's identity by comparing the first authentication number to the received input; wherein the second operations comprise: providing a second authentication number to the provider; receiving an input from the provider; and verifying the provider's identity by comparing the second authentication number to the received input.