The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 21, 1999
Filed:
May. 15, 1996
Sanjay Agraharam, Marlboro, NJ (US);
Mehmet Reha Civanlar, Middletown, NJ (US);
Barin Geoffry Haskell, Tinton Falls, NJ (US);
Ashok K Kuthyar, Holmdel, NJ (US);
Robert Edward Markowitz, Glen Rock, NJ (US);
Robert F Mortenson, Chatham, NJ (US);
Carlos Alberto Perea, Bethlehem, PA (US);
Ram S Ramamurthy, Manalapan, NJ (US);
Kenneth H Rosen, Middletown, NJ (US);
Peter H Stuntebeck, Little Silver, NJ (US);
AT&T Corp, Middletown, NJ (US);
Abstract
Real time delivery of multimedia information accessed either through the Internet, or otherwise, simultaneously, or sequentially time delayed to one more users, is enabled by delivering the multimedia information over a switched network via a multipoint control unit. A client establishes a connection with a server, or other remote location where desired multimedia information is resident, identifies the desired multimedia information and provides client information identifying the locations of the users. The client information may include the telephone numbers or other access numbers of each of the multiple users. The multimedia information is then delivered by a multimedia server to a bridging apparatus through a switched network guaranteeing high quality of service, secure connection and billing control. Connecting one or more users to a live agent is also made possible by providing the telephone numbers of the users and the live agent directly to the multipoint control unit. The delivery of the multimedia information can be secured by comparing the client information to a segmented 'to call' list to determine whether the client is authorized to receive the requested multimedia information. Alternatively, or in addition, security can be implemented by mounting a video camera at the client's endpoint and connecting a database running face recognition software to the multimedia server. The multimedia server's call to the user triggers the camera to take a picture of the user. The selected content is restricted to authorized users by comparing the picture to pictures of authorized faces stored in the database.