Method and system to connect consumers to information
View Patent ↗This invention provides for a method of (or apparatus for) facilitating the delivery of advice to consumers using a server unit which can store and display the names and characteristics of experts and then rapidly assist in connecting the expert and consumer for real-time communication. The server can also have the ability to receive keywords from the consumer, match those keywords to one or more experts, and tell the consumer how to contact an expert.
1. A method, comprising:
a first party providing an advertisement on Internet on behalf of an advisor, wherein the advertisement is displayed to a user and includes at least a reference to establish a telephonic communication with the advisor and indicates whether the advisor is currently available to communicate at a time when the user is viewing the advertisement;
receiving a user selection corresponding to the advisor, while the advisor is available;
while the advisor is currently available, a central controller using the selection from the user to facilitate initiation of a telephonic connection between the advisor and the user, including the central controller establishing a first telephonic connection with the user and the central controller initiating a second telephonic connection with the advisor to connect the advisor and the user; and
the first party charging an amount for the telephonic connection established between the advisor and the user.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first party providing the advertisement includes providing a reference to be selected by the user to initiate a connection to the advisor.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the reference includes a hyper-link to be selected by the user to initiate a connection to the advisor.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first party providing the advertisement includes providing a reference to be selected by the user to initiate a call to the advisor through Internet telephony.
5. The method of claim 1 , further including the first party providing advertisements on a media channel on behalf of multiple advertisers, the advertisements to include at least a reference to a telephonic connection with the respective advertisers;
the first party charging an amount each time a telephonic connection is established between a respective advertiser and a customer.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a search submitted by the user.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a search submitted by the user for a geographic location.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a search submitted by the user for a subject matter.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a key word search submitted by the user.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first party charges an amount for each telephonic connection established between the advisor and the user based on the advertisement.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first party charging the amount comprises:
the first party deducting the amount from an amount received from the user.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first party charging the amount comprises:
the first party charging the user.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the amount charged is according to a price specified by the advisor.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the telephonic connection is provided by Internet telephony.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the telephonic connection includes video.
16. A machine-readable medium containing instructions, which when executed on a data processing system, cause the system to perform a method, the method comprising:
a first party providing an advertisement on Internet on behalf of an advisor, wherein the advertisement is displayed to a user and includes at least a reference to establish a telephonic communication with the advisor and indicates whether the advisor is currently available to communicate at a time when the user is viewing the advertisement;
receiving a user selection corresponding to the advisor, while the advisor is available;
while the advisor is currently available, a central controller using the selection from the user to facilitate initiation of a telephonic connection between the advisor and the user, including the central controller establishing a first telephonic connection with the user and the central controller initiating a second telephonic connection with the advisor to connect the advisor and the user; and
the first party charging an amount for the telephonic connection established between the advisor and the user.
17. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the first party providing the advertisement includes providing a reference to be selected by the user to initiate a connection to the advisor.
18. The medium of claim 17 , wherein the reference includes a hyper-link to be selected by the user to initiate a connection to the advisor.
19. The medium of claim 17 , wherein the first party providing the advertisement includes providing a reference to be selected by the user to initiate a call to the advisor through Internet telephony.
20. The medium of claim 16 , the method further including the first party providing advertisements on a media channel on behalf of multiple advertisers, the advertisements to include at least a reference to a telephonic connection with the respective advertisers;
the first party charging an amount each time a telephonic connection is established between a respective advertiser and a customer.
21. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a search submitted by the user.
22. The medium of claim 21 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a search submitted by the user for a geographic location.
23. The medium of claim 21 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a search submitted by the user for a subject matter.
24. The medium of claim 21 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a key word search submitted by the user.
25. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the first party charges an amount for each telephonic connection established between the advisor and the user based on the advertisement.
26. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the first party charging the amount comprises:
the first party deducting the amount from an amount received from the user.
27. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the first party charging the amount comprises:
the first party charging the user.
28. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the amount charged is according to a price specified by the advisor.
29. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the telephonic connection is provided by Internet telephony.
30. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the telephonic connection includes video.
31. A system, comprising:
means for a first party providing an advertisement on Internet on behalf of an advisor, wherein the advertisement is displayed to a user and includes at least a reference to establish a telephonic communication with the advisor and indicates whether the advisor is currently available to communicate at a time when the user is viewing the advertisement;
means for receiving a user selection corresponding to the advisor, while the advisor is available;
means for a central controller using the selection from the user to facilitate initiation of a telephonic connection between the advisor and the user, while the advisor is currently available, including the central controller establishing a first telephonic connection with the user and the central controller initiating a second telephonic connection with the advisor to connect the advisor and the user; and
means for the first party charging an amount for the telephonic connection established between the advisor and the user.
32. The system of claim 31 , wherein means for the first party providing the advertisement includes means for providing a reference to be selected by the user to initiate a connection to the advisor.
33. The system of claim 32 , wherein the reference includes a hyper-link to be selected by the user to initiate a connection to the advisor.
34. The system of claim 32 , wherein means for the first party providing the advertisement includes means for providing a reference to be selected by the user to initiate a call to the advisor through Internet telephony.
35. The system of claim 31 , further including means for the first party providing advertisements on a media channel on behalf of multiple advertisers, the advertisements to include at least a reference to a telephonic connection with the respective advertisers; and
means for the first party charging an amount each time a telephonic connection is established between a respective advertiser and a customer.
36. The system of claim 31 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a search submitted by the user.
37. The system of claim 36 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a search submitted by the user for a geographic location.
38. The system of claim 36 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a search submitted by the user for a subject matter.
39. The system of claim 36 , wherein the advertisement is provided in response to a key word search submitted by the user.
40. The system of claim 31 , wherein the first party charges an amount for each telephonic connection established between the advisor and the user based on the advertisement.
41. The system of claim 31 , wherein means for the first party charging the amount comprises:
means for the first party deducting the amount from an amount received from the user.
42. The system of claim 31 , wherein means for the first party charging the amount comprises:
means for the first party charging the user.
43. The system of claim 31 , wherein the amount charged is according to a price specified by the advisor.
44. The system of claim 31 , wherein the telephonic connection is provided by Internet telephony.
45. The system of claim 31 , wherein the telephonic connection includes video.