ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS WITH MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES VIA ENCODED ACOUSTIC SIGNALS

1 . A method for exchanging information at a mobile communications device comprising an acoustic receiver and an acoustic transmitter, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving at the acoustic receiver a first acoustic signal encoded with a first dataset;

decoding the first acoustic signal to regenerate the first dataset, the first dataset comprising billing information;

generating a second dataset based at least in part on the regenerated first dataset, the second dataset comprising payment instructions determined based on the billing information;

encoding the second dataset in a second acoustic signal; and

transmitting the second acoustic signal from the acoustic transmitter.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

receiving user input based at least in part on the regenerated first dataset.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of generating a second dataset based at least in part on the regenerated first dataset further comprises the step of:

generating the second dataset based at least in part on the regenerated first dataset and based at least in part on the received user input.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

receiving at the acoustic receiver a third acoustic signal encoded with a third dataset, the third dataset based at least in part on the transmitted second acoustic signal.

5 . A method for exchanging information with an automated information system comprising an acoustic receiver and an acoustic transmitter, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a first dataset, the first dataset comprising billing information;

encoding the first dataset comprising the billing information in a first acoustic signal;

transmitting the first acoustic signal from the acoustic transmitter;

receiving at the acoustic receiver a second acoustic signal encoded with a second dataset, the second dataset comprising payment instructions based at least in part on the transmitted first acoustic signal; and

decoding the second acoustic signal to regenerate the second dataset.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising the steps of:

generating a third dataset based at least in part on the regenerated second dataset;

encoding the third dataset in a third acoustic signal; and

transmitting the third acoustic signal from the acoustic transmitter.

7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising the steps of:

receiving user input based at least in part on the regenerated second dataset;

generating a third dataset based at least in part on the regenerated second dataset and based at least in part on the received user input;

encoding the third dataset in a third acoustic signal; and

transmitting the third acoustic signal from the acoustic transmitter.

8 . A mobile communications device comprising:

a radiofrequency transceiver operatively coupled to a computational system;

an acoustic receiver operatively coupled to the computational system;

an acoustic transmitter operatively coupled to the computational system;

wherein the computational system is configured to:

communicate through the radiofrequency transceiver with a mobile telecommunications network;

receive from the acoustic receiver a first acoustic signal encoded with a first dataset comprising billing information;

decode the first acoustic signal to regenerate the first dataset;

generate a second dataset based at least in part on the regenerated first dataset, the second dataset comprising payment instructions;

encode the second dataset in a second acoustic signal; and

transmit with the acoustic transmitter the second acoustic signal.

9 . The mobile communications device of claim 8 , further comprising a user input device operatively coupled to the computational system.

10 . The mobile communications device of claim 9 , wherein the computational system is further configured to:

receive user input from the user input device; and

generate the second dataset based at least in part on the regenerated first dataset and based at least in part on the received user input.

11 . The mobile communications device of claim 8 , wherein the computational system is further configured to:

receive from the acoustic receiver a third acoustic signal encoded with a third dataset, the third dataset based at least in part on the transmitted second acoustic signal.

12 . An automated information system comprising:

a data input device operatively coupled to a computational system;

an acoustic receiver operatively coupled to the computational system;

an acoustic transmitter operatively coupled to the computational system;

wherein the computational system is configured to:

receive from the data input device a first dataset comprising billing information;

encode the first dataset in a first acoustic signal;

transmit with the acoustic transmitter the first acoustic signal;

receive from the acoustic receiver a second acoustic signal encoded with a second dataset, the second dataset comprising payment instructions based at least in part on the transmitted first acoustic signal; and

decode the second acoustic signal to regenerate the second dataset.

13 . The automated information system of claim 12 , further comprising a radiofrequency transceiver operatively coupled to the computational system.

14 . The automated information system of claim 12 , further comprising a user input device operatively coupled to the computational system.

15 . The automated information system of claim 14 , wherein the computational system is further configured to:

receive user input from the user input device; and

generate the second dataset based at least in part on the regenerated first dataset and based at least in part on the received user input.

16 . The automated information system of claim 12 , wherein the computational system is further configured to:

receive from the acoustic receiver a third acoustic signal encoded with a third dataset, the third dataset based at least in part on the transmitted second acoustic signal.