Systems and methods to facilitate real time communications and commerce via answers to questions
View Patent ↗Methods and systems to facilitate real time communications and commerce via answers presented to questions. One embodiment includes one or more web servers to receive from a second user an answer to a question of a first user, and to present the answer with a communication reference of a connection provider to a third user; a session border controller of the connection provider to interface with a packet switched network; and one or more telecommunication servers of the connection provider coupled with the session border controller to connect the third user to the second user for real time communications in response to a request made via the communication referenced. One embodiment includes: receiving from a second user an answer to a question of a first user; and presenting to a third user the answer with a reference for requesting fee-based content from or real time communications with the second user.
1. A system, comprising:
a web server comprising one or more processors and one or more memories, to present a question received from a first user to a plurality of users, to receive a first answer and a second answer to the question from a second user, wherein the second user is one of the plurality of users, and to:
access relationship data corresponding to a social network of which the second user and a third user are members, wherein (a) the social network comprises a social structure that represents a network of the plurality of users, (b) the relationship data comprises connections between the plurality of users that represent social connections, and (c) a social distance between any two users of the plurality of users is determined based at least in part the social structure and the connections between the any two users of the plurality of users;
based at least in part on the relationship data, rank the second user according to the social distance between the second user and the third user with respect the social network;
present the first answer and the second answer with a communication reference of the second user to the third user and with an identification of the ranking of the second user according to the social distance, wherein:
the communication reference is operative to request fee-based communications between the third user and the second user in response to a selection of the reference by the third user;
the third user is charged a fee for the fee-based communications;
the communication reference is associated with a connection provider; and
the second answer is an introductory answer for a fee-based answer and is presented with a user-selectable option to view the fee-based answer;
a session border controller of the connection provider to interface with a packet switched network; and
a telecommunication server of the connection provider coupled with the session border controller to connect the third user to the second user for real time communications in response to a request made via the communication reference.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the telecommunication server is configured to establish a first Voice over Internet Protocol connection to connect to the third user via the communication reference, to establish a second Voice over Internet Protocol connection to connect to the second user, and to bridge the first and second Voice over Internet Protocol connections to connect the second user and the third user for real time communications.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the first and second Voice over Internet Protocol connections are bridged via a media connection that does not go through the session border controller to connect the second user and the third user.
4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a controller coupled with the telecommunication server to charge the third user the fee on behalf of the second user for the real time communications between the second user and the third user.
5. A method, comprising:
presenting, by a computing device, a question received from a first user to a plurality of users;
receiving, by the computing device, a first answer and a second answer to the question from a second user, wherein the second user is a one of the plurality of users;
accessing relationship data corresponding to a social network of which the second user and a third user are members, wherein (a) the social network comprises a social structure that represents a network of the plurality of users, (b) the relationship data comprises connections between the plurality of users that represent social connections, and (c) a social distance between any two users of the plurality of users is determined based at least in part the social structure and the connections between the any two users of the plurality of users;
based at least in part on the relationship data, ranking the second user according to the social distance between the second user and the third user with respect the social network;
presenting, by the computing device, the first answer and the second answer to the question with a communication reference of the second user to the third user and with an identification of the ranking of the second user according to the social distance, wherein:
the communication reference is operative to request fee-based communications between the third user and the second user in response to a selection of the reference by the third user;
the third-user is charged a fee for the fee-based communications; and
the second answer is an introductory answer for a fee-based answer and is presented with a user-selectable option to view the fee-based answer.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the communication reference comprises a link to a server to provide content related to the first answer to the third user in one or more of text, audio, and/or video after a payment of the fee is received from the third user.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the communication reference comprises a link to a server to request a callback to the third user over a telephone line to play back a recorded message of the second user related to the first answer after a payment of the fee is received from the third user.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the communication reference comprises a telephonic reference of a server to be used by the third user to call the server to listen to a recorded message of the second user related to the first answer after a payment of the fee is received from the third user.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the communication reference comprises a link to a server to electronically mail content provided by the second user related to the first answer to the third user and to present a mail application to the third user; and wherein the mail application is configured to present the content to the third user after a payment of the fee is received from the third user.
10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the communication reference comprises a reference of a connection server, comprising one or more of a telephone number of the connection server without an extension, a telephone number of the connection server with an extension, a Session Initiation Protocol Uniform Resource Identifier of the connection server, a Voice over Internet Protocol user identifier of the connection server, and/or a link to a web server of the connection server to request a callback to the third user for a connection to the second user.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
the connection server establishing a first Voice over Internet Protocol connection to connect to the third user via the communication reference;
determining a telephonic reference of the second user based on the communication reference used to establish the first Voice over Internet Protocol connection;
the connection server establishing a second Voice over Internet Protocol connection to connect to the second user using the determined telephonic reference of the second user; and
bridging the first and second Voice over Internet Protocol connections to connect the second user and the third user for real time communications.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the bridging of the first and second Voice over Internet Protocol connections comprises translating between a first language and a second language to bridge communication between the second user and the third user.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the bridging of the first and second Voice over Internet Protocol connections comprises translating between text and voice to bridge communication between the second user and the third user.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the bridging of the first and second Voice over Internet Protocol connections comprises establishing a media connection that does not go through the connection server to connect the second user and the third user.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the connection server charges the third user on behalf of the second user for the real time communications between the second user and the third user.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the connection server charges the third user via one or more of a credit account, a debit account, a bank account, a member account of the third user established with the connection server, and/or a telecommunication account of the third user established with a telecommunication carrier; and the connection server charges the third user based on one or more of a price per session specified by the second user, a price per unit of communication time specified by the second user, and/or credits associated with a subscription fee.
17. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
providing a user interface to the second user to receive the first answer to the question, a content related to the question, and a price for the content.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the user interface is configured to receive the content via one or more of an entry box, a file attachment, and/or a voice connection between the second user and a recording server.
19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
presenting with the first answer a credential of the second user in an area related to the question together with an offer of a content related to the question, a rating of the content by prior customers and a number of prior sells of the content.
20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:
presenting a question received from a first user to a plurality of users;
receiving a first answer and a second answer to the question from a second user, wherein the second user is a one of the plurality of users;
accessing relationship data corresponding to a social network of which the second user and a third user are members, wherein (a) the social network comprises a social structure that represents a network of the plurality of users, (b) the relationship data comprises connections between the plurality of users that represent social connections, and (c) a social distance between any two users of the plurality of users is determined based at least in part the social structure and the connections between the any two users of the plurality of users;
based at least in part on the relationship data, ranking the second user according to the social distance between the second user and the third user with respect the social network;
presenting the first answer and the second answer to the question with a communication reference of the second user to the third user and with an identification of the ranking of the second user according to the social distance, wherein:
the communication reference is operative to request fee-based communications between the third user and the second user in response to a selection of the reference by the third user;
the third-user is charged a fee for the fee-based communications; and
the second answer is an introductory answer for a fee-based answer and is presented with a user-selectable option to view the fee-based answer.