Method of and an arrangement for forwarding a customer order

[54] METHOD OF AND AN ARRANGEMENT

FOR FORWARDING A CUSTOMER ORDER

[75] Inventors: Robert W. Foster, Glen Ellyn;

Charles B. Hirschman; Marie L.
Todd, both of Naperville, all of 111.

[73] Assignee: American Telephone and Telegraph Company, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J.

[21] Appl. No.: 170,561

[22] Filed: Mar. 15, 1988

Related U.S. Application Data

[63] Continuation of Ser. No. 781,895, Sep. 30, 1985, abandoned.

[51] Int. CI* H04M 11/08; H04M 15/00

[52] U.S. CI 379/94; 379/105;

379/246; 358/86; 455/4

[58] Field of Search 358/84-86;

455/2, 4, 5; 379/91-94, 101, 102, 104, 105, 127,

142, 201, 246

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

3,484,560 12/1969 Jaeger, Jr. et al. .

3,920,908 11/1975 Kraus 379/91

4,165,446 8/1979 Flowers et al 379/94

4,166,929 9/1979 Sheinbein .

4,191,860 3/1980 Weber .

4,277,649 7/1981 Sheinbein 379/246 X

4,357,493 11/1982 Anderson et al. .

4,506,111 3/1985 Takenouchi et al. .

4,518,989 5/1985 Yabiki et al 358/86

4,530,008 7/1985 McVoy 358/86 X

4,555,594 11/1985 Friedes et al 379/247 X

4,570,008 3/1971 Downing et al 364/200

4,590,516 5/1986 Abraham 358/86

4,611,096 9/1986 Asmuth et al. .

4,742,513 5/1988 Reichard, Jr. et al 358/86 X

4,755,872 7/1988 Bestler et al 358/86

4,763,191 8/1988 Gordon et al 358/86

4,797,913 1/1989 Kaplan et al 379/91

4,807,023 2/1989 Bestler et al 358/86

4,852,154 7/1989 Lewis et al 379/105

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

WO85/03830 8/1985 PCT Int'l Appl 358/85

87/04884 8/1987 PCT Int'l Appl 379/94

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Zenith Electronics, "Advanced New Cable TV Technology for Impulse-Pay-Per-View," Press Release issued in Las Vegas, Nev., Jun. 3, 1985 by Zenith Electronics of Glenview, 111., copy obtained from Dialog Data Base 'File 621'.

A. F. Bulfer, "Dial-A-View", Talk Given Dec. 3, 1984 at the Motion Picture Industry Seminar in Los Angeles, Calif.

(List continued on next page.)

Primary Examiner—Keith E. George
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Peter Visserman

[57] ABSTRACT

A method and an arrangement are disclosed for forwarding a customer order received from a requesting customer line to a vendor data link. For use with a telecommunications switching system, the order entry arrangement includes a customer signal receiver for receiving customer signals from a requesting customer line and a processor for sending the orders received from the receiver to the vendor data link. The processor normally controls the operation of the switching network of the switching system but also sends received customer orders and the identity of the requesting line to a vendor data link in response to a customer entered order entry request code. Optional vendor identification information may be entered by the customer for selecting a desired vendor. Customer identification information may also be entered by the customer for billing and order security purposes. After the order is received, the order entry arrangement returns an order confirmation signal to the requesting line.

28 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Science Dynamics, Corp., Advertisement, "Profit from Impulse Pay-Per-View", Telephony, Jul. 14,1986, p. 59. A. F. Bulfer et al., "A Trial of a National Pay-PerView Ordering and Billing System", Cable '86, 1986 NCTA Technical Papers.

M. Berger, K. Gibbons, "New Customer-Defined Network Service", Telephony, Mar. 10, 1986, pp. 50, 52, 54, 58, 60.

R. J. Frank, R. J. Keevers, F. B. Strebendt, and J. E. Waninski, "No. 4 ESS Tm : Mass Announcement Capa

bility", Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 60, No. 6, Jul.-Aug. 1981, p. 1078.

AT&T Network Communications Applications and Services, "Dial-It® 900 Service", Issue 4, Dec. 1986, Section 4.5.1-4.5.5, pp. 1-10.

J. Magara et al., "Advanced Video Response System—
Phase III—", 2254 Japan Telecommunications Review,
vol. 23, No. 3, Tokyo, Japan, Jul. 1981, pp. 243-249.
S. Sirazi et al., "Comparative Study of Hybrid-IPPV
Implementations", Cable '85: Sessions in Detail, Las
Vegas, Nev., Jul. 3, 1985, pp. 1-7.
Cable and the Telcos: from Confrontation to Detente,
Report 83-1, The Yankee Group, Boston, Mass., Jun.,
1983, pp. 162-167.