System and method for maintaining an online point-of-interest directory

1. A method for maintaining a publicly searchable database of points of interest, said method comprising the steps of:

establishing a telephone call with a user, said telephone call being established through a telephone communication network;

identifying a telephone number associated with the telephone call;

matching a physical address with the identified telephone number;

matching a point of interest with the physical address;

assigning a unique password to the point of interest;

providing to the user the assigned unique password;

establishing communication with the user via an Internet connection, wherein the user initiates the communication by login on a designated website by providing the telephone number and the assigned unique password;

receiving from the user, over the Internet connection, the assigned unique password; authenticating the user login by verifying the unique password provided is assigned to the telephone number provided;

receiving from the user, via the Internet connection, business information associated with the point of interest, said business information including at least one of a name of a business establishment, a physical address of the business establishment, the business operating hours of the business establishment, and an URL of the business establishment;

accessing the database containing a directory of points of interest;

determining whether the database includes pre-stored record information associated with the point of interest;

if it is determined that the database includes pre-stored record information associated with the point of interest, retrieving, from the database, the pre-stored record information associated with the point of interest and updating the pre-stored information by editing the information with the business information received from the user; and

if it is determined that the database does not include pre-stored information associated with the point of interest, adding the business information received from the user to the database to thereby create a new record information associated with the point of interest.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigned unique password is provided to the user by postal mail.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Internet communication is established using an encryption protocol.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the telephone call is established using a geographic identification server, wherein said geographic identification server includes a map server interface for accessing mapping information.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing the updated databse on the Internet.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of, in response to a consumer request via the Internet to view information about a point of interest, displaying the stored record information associated with the point of interest.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of displaying additional information associated with the requested point of interest, said additional information including mapping information of the point of interest.

8. A machine-readable medium containing a set of executable instructions for causing a processor to perform a method for maintaining a publicly searchable database of points of interest, said method comprising the steps of: establishing a telephone call with a user, said telephone call being established through a telephone communication network;

identifying a telephone number associated with the telephone call;

matching a physical address with the identified telephone number;

matching a point of interest with the physical address;

assigning a unique password to the point of interest;

providing to the user the assigned unique password;

establishing communication with the user via an Internet connection, wherein the user initiates the communication by login on a designated website by providing the telephone number and the assigned unique password;

receiving from the user, over the Internet connection, the assigned unique password; authenticating the user login by verifying the unique password provided is assigned to the telephone number provided;

receiving from the user, via the Internet connection, business information associated with the point of interest, said business information including at least one of a name of a business establishment, a physical address of the business establishment, the business operating hours of the business establishment, and an URL of the business establishment;

accessing the database containing a directory of points of interest;

determining whether the database includes pre-stored record information associated with the point of interest;

if it is determined that the database includes pre-stored record information associated with the point of interest, retrieving, from the database, the pre-stored record information associated with the point of interest and updating the pre-stored information by editing the information with the business information received from the user; and interest; and

if it is determined that the database does not include pre-stored information associated with the point of interest, adding the business information received from the user to the database to thereby create a new record information associated with the point of interest.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the assigned unique password is provided to the user by postal mail.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the Internet communication is established using an encryption protocol.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the telephone call is established using a geographic identification server, wherein said geographic identification server includes a map seryer interface for accessing mapping information.

12. The method of claim 8 , said method further comprising the step of providing the database on the Internet.

13. The medium of claim 8 , said method further comprising the step of, in response to a consumer request via the Internet to view information about the point of interest, displaying the stored record information associated with the point of interest.

14. The method of claim 8 , said method further comprising the step of displaying additional information associated with the point of interest, said additional information including mapping information of the point of interest.

15. The method of claim 2 pr method of claim of claim 9 wherein the unique password is mailed to the user at an address to which the telephone number is registered.

16. The method of claim 1 or method of claim 8 wherein said step of establishing a telephone call is performed before said step of matching a physical address with the identified telephone number.

17. The method of claim 1 or method of claim 8 , wherein said step of establishing a telephone call is performed before said step of identifying a telephone number associated with the telephone call.

18. A system for maintaining a publicly searchable directory of points of interest, said system comprising:

means for establishing a telephone call with a user, said telephone call being established through a telephone communication network;

means for identifying a telephone number associated with the telephone call;

means for matching a physical address with the identified telephone number;

means for matching a point of interest with the physical address;

means for assigning a unique password to the point of interest;

means for providing to the user the assigned unique password;

means for establishing communication with the user via an Internet connection, wherein the user initiates the communication by login on a designated website by providing the telephone number and the assigned unique password;

means for receiving from the user, over the Internet connection, the assigned unique password;

means for receiving from the user, via the Internet connection, business information associated with the point of interest, said business information including at least one of a name of a business establishment, a physical address of the business establishment, the business operating hours of the business establishment, and an URL of the business establishment;

means for accessing a database containing the directory of points of interest;

means for determining whether the database includes pre-stored record information associated with the point of interest:

means for, if it is determined that the database includes pre-stored record information associated with the point of interest, retrieving, from the database, the pre-stored record information associated with the point of interest and updating the pre-stored information by editing the information with the business information received from the user: and

means for, if it is determined that the database does not include pre-stored information associated with the point of interest, adding the business information received from the user to the database to thereby create a new record information associated with the point of interest.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the communication is established using an encryption protocol.

20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the means for establishing a telephone call is a geographic identification server, wherein said geographic identification server includes a map server interface for accessing mapping information.

21. The system of claim 18 , further comprising means for providing the directory on the Internet.

22. The system of claim 18 , further comprising means for, in response to a consumer request via the Internet to view information about a point of interest, displaying the stored record information associated with the point of interest.

23. The system of claim 18 , further comprising means for displaying additional information associated with the point of interest, said additional information including mapping information of the point of interest.