At+t Corp.

Idt Corporation

Ncr Corporation

Anip, Inc.

Daniel Jitzchak Mayer

Hans Peter Graf

Alexander Mashinsky

Daniel Selig Furman

Carol A Wegrzynowicz

Glen A Taylor

Patrick John Gartner

Jay Barsky

Dennis James Morgan

A sponsor purchases a prepaid card that can be transmitted to an intended user with increased security. Using a prepaid card dispenser, the sponsor elects an amount for the prepaid card and is prompted for at least one telephone number at which a server platform should contact the sponsor when the intended user wants to authenticate the card. The sponsor may enter additional phone numbers that will be called if the sponsor does not answer the first number when called by the server platform. When an intended user has received the prepaid card, the intended user calls a telephone number associated with the server platform and is connected to the sponsor via a telephone bridge so that the sponsor may authenticate the intended user. The sponsor may then inform the server platform (e.g., via DTMF tones) that the card has been authenticated.

Financial card activation method and system

There is provided a multi-mode wireless communication device. A cellular transceiver communicates over a cellular network in a cellular mode. A wireless transceiver communicates over a wireless network in a wireless mode. A selector makes a selection between operating in the cellular mode and the wireless mode. The selector uses a subscriber profile and other information, such as financial information, to make the selection. The subscriber profile includes information such as a minimally acceptable quality of service acceptable for a communication.

Multi-mode wireless communication devices and systems for prepaid communication services

A telecommunications services exchange that assigns telecommunications services to a relatively small number of tagged classes based on the values of certain parameters characterizing these services is disclosed. Carriers and other traders participating in the exchange may use the class tag to refer to each service they seek to purchase or sell. The relatively small number of classes increases the probability of matching offered and required services. Class definitions may be established on the basis of typical parameter values for a particular type of service, and may be modified over time as those values change. The exchange operator may monitor the parameter variation of each offered service, and swap that service for a different service when monitored variation exceeds that dictated by class boundaries. The system may employ a hysteresis band of suitable dimensions to ensure that the assignment of offered services to classes is as stable as desired when remaining sensitive to meaningful variations in parameter values.

Assigning telecommunications services to matchable classes

The present invention is directed to methods for allowing phone lines to be used in a bonding scheme while retaining the ability to make or receive calls on those lines without terminating the entire data transmission. When a incoming call to one of the lines in use is detected, the call is rerouted to a specially configured server. Via the Internet, this server notifies the computer using the bonding scheme and coordinates the rerouting of the data transmission to the one or more other phone lines being bonded so that the requested line can be released and made available to connect the call. When the call is completed, the line can be returned to use as part of the bonded data transmission. When an outgoing call needs to be made, the computer using the bonding scheme is notified via an electronic signal. The computer then coordinates the rerouting of the data transmission to the one or more other lines being used in the bonding scheme and releases the line for the outgoing call. Once the outgoing call is complete, the line can be returned to use as part of the bonded data transmission.

Method for providing telephone access to an internet user connected to plural bonded telephone lines

An improved audio browser is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, a plurality of hypertext links (hereafter called &ldquo;hyperlink words&rdquo;) available from, for example, a World Wide Web document, are used as a vocabulary of a speech recognizer for an audio browser. These hyperlink words are read to the user in the ordinary course of the audio browser's &ldquo;speaking voice&rdquo;&mdash;such hyperlink words being identified to the user by, for example, a change in voice characteristics for the &ldquo;speaking voice.&rdquo; When a user wishes to select a hyperlink word, the user merely repeats the hyperlink word itself, rather than speaking a command or using a DTMF tone. The speech recognizer, which has as its vocabulary some or all of the hyperlink words of the document, recognizes the spoken hyperlink word and causes the jump to the linked address associated with the recognized hyperlink word.

Voiced interface with hyperlinked information

A management system and method for use with on-demand cable programming, wherein a customer telephones a cable supplier and requests that a particular video program be played. The management system uses a plurality of video sources, wherein each of the video sources is capable of playing the requested video program. A telephone switch system and routing table are used to route incoming customer requests directly to the interface in control of the video-source serving the region from where the request originated. The volume of requests received from each customer region serviced by the cable supplier is evaluated. If the volume of customer requests surpasses a threshold level, then additional video sources are added to the cable network by the cable supplier. The cable head ends that service the various customer regions are then reassigned among the new number of video sources so that the volume of requests is generally evenly divided among the multiple video sources, concurrently, the routing table is changed to maintain the geographic association between customer regions and each appropriate video source.

Demand-adaptive system and method for telephone requested cable programming

A technique for creating, training, and using a telecommunication network-based automatic voice-dialing system is provided through the automatic determination, by a network element, of likely called parties for a given customer. This determination is made based on records of network usage by the customer. Names of the likely called parties are determined through the use of, e.g., a conventional reverse telephone directory database.

Automatic vocabulary generation for telecommunications network-based

A management system and method for use with on-demand cable programming, wherein a customer telephones a cable supplier and requests that a particular video program be played. The management system uses a plurality of video sources, wherein each of the video sources is capable of playing the requested video program. A telephone switch system and routing table are used to route incoming customer requests directly to the interface in control of the video source serving the region from where the request originated. The volume of requests received from each customer region serviced by the cable supplier is evaluated. If the volume of customer requests surpasses a threshold level, then additional video sources are added to the cable network by the cable supplier. The cable head ends that service the various customer regions are then reassigned among the new number of video sources so that the volume of requests is generally evenly divided among the multiple video sources, concurrently, the routing table is changed to maintain the geographic association between customer regions and each appropriate video source.

Demand-adaptive system and method for telephone requested cable

A broadcast network, which may have multiple affiliated television stations each broadcasting in different geographic areas, is provided with one or more easy-to-use telephone numbers. The broadcast network, in turn, assigns one or more the these numbers to its affiliated television stations, each of which allows advertisers to prominently display one of its broadcast network's telephone numbers in direct-response television advertisements broadcast by the affiliated stations in their respective geographic areas. Different advertisements broadcast on different television stations affiliated with that broadcast network may then display that same number, regardless of the geographic area in which the broadcast is received, and the time at which the advertisement is displayed. When a particular advertisement sponsored by a particular advertiser is displayed on a TV program, viewer/listeners can dial the broadcast network's telephone number in response to the advertising, in order to initiate a transaction. The call is routed based upon its 'context', to a specific terminating telephone number for a transaction processor serving the advertiser associated with the advertisement. 'Context' based processing is accomplished by using a call-routing database to uniquely associate each incoming call placed to the broadcast network telephone number with an advertiser's specific terminating telephone number, illustratively based upon the time period that the call is made, and the viewer/listener location where the call was originated, both of which together determine the particular advertisement to which the caller was responding. Ambiguities arising from (a) overlap of the geographic areas in which affiliated stations broadcast or (b) short time intervals between broadcast of different ads, are resolved by querying a caller using a voice response system.

Context-based transactions using broadcast advertising

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for compressing images of financial instruments and other documents. The method of the present invention includes the steps of scanning a plurality of documents to obtain an electronic image of each document; identifying a static portion in the electronic image of each of the documents, containing information which remains substantially unchanged for the plurality of documents, by locating and reading a document identifier in the image; storing the document identifier in a database; identifying a dynamic portion, typically containing distinct information for each of the documents, in each of the electronic images; isolating the dynamic portion from the static portion within the image to obtain a dynamic image containing only the dynamic portion; and storing the dynamic image in the database. The present invention provides efficient techniques for identifying and isolating dynamic information in a document, such as handwritten text on a check.

Method and apparatus for separating static and dynamic portions of

When one party places a long distance call to another party through a telephone network, there is a delay in completing the call after the calling party enters the telephone number of the called party. During this holding time, a message specific to the geographic location of the called party is synthesized in light of information gleaned from the dialed telephone number and delivered to the calling party. The message may include an identification of the location of the called party, the time of day and date where the called party is located, news, weather, or other location specific information. The message may also include advertising information.

Growing community of inventors

Warren, NJ, United States of America

Daniel Jitzchak Mayer