AU781798B2 - Method and apparatus for creating consumer and organisational trading communities online - Google Patents

Description

P/000I I Regulation 32

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Arthur Mahlon WILSON 23 Frampton Court Canning Vale, Western Australia 6155 Australia Arthur Mahlon WILSON Griffith Hack, Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, 6th Floor, 256 Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia, 6000.

Standard Complete Specification for the invention entitled: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING CONSUMER AND ORGANISATIONAL TRADING COMMUNITIES ON-LINE Details of Associated Provisional Applications: PQ7145 dated 27 April 2000 The following is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- 2 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING CONSUMER AND ORGANISATIONAL TRADING COMMUNITIES ONLINE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to a method and system for placing existing consumers and organisations into the online environment whether or not they have the technology, knowledge or skills, or time to advance in the online environment or not.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION The beginning of the 21' Century will be identified with the dawning of electronic commerce or e-commerce as a viable paradigm for conducting business. E-Commerce refers generally to the buying and selling of goods and services online, typically over "the Internet, using various electronic devices as the user interface. At present most transactions online are conducted using a desk top or lap top PC. However, PDA's (Personal Digital Assistant) and even mobile phones are being used more and more to connect users into the online environment. A major barrier for many potential participants to gain access online is not the cost of the technology, but a lack of knowledge about how best to take advantage of the unique characteristics of the online environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention was developed with a view to providing a system and method whereby a organisation may create and sell products, services and information in the online environment, whether or not the business has a website, or other tools necessary for electronic commerce.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of creating an online trading community amongst organisations and consumers within a geographical boundary, the method comprising the steps of: identifying and monitoring organisations including businesses within the geographical boundary of a target community; 3 recording information about the online capabilities of said organisations in a capability database; and, developing and hosting an initial free or low cost web site for selected organisations irrespective of whether said selected organisations have access to the online environment whereby, in use, said selected organisations begin to develop a presence in the online environment.

Preferably the method comprises the further steps of: ooeoo "inviting said selected organisation to advertise in the online environment; creating a special advertising listing and managing an advertising space for selected organisations who accept an invitation; and collecting revenue from said selected organisations based on the type of advertising space purchased.

o.

Typically the method further comprises the steps of: i generating free or low cost e-mail addresses for said selected organisations; and, updating the capability database in indicate which organisations are e-mail capable and which prefer external management of their e-mail functions.

Advantageously the method also includes the step of: receiving orders online from consumers for products or services offered by said selected organisations and transmitting said orders to the selected organisations via an appropriate communication medium based on the information stored in said capability database.

4 Preferably said steps of creating a special advertising listing through the online environment and managing the online advertising space, include making the specified times of advertising available via an e-sales and e-marketing system; and, examining a plurality of website advertisements which would fulfil the specified requirements of a business.

Thus, one embodiment of the present invention provides a business with the flexibility to participate in the online environment without being required to develop web pages or in any other way directly manage their online presence.

"The present invention therefore permits businesses to stimulate latent and unfulfilled business demands while leaving their underlying cost structures intact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of the invention, preferred embodiments of the method and system for creating consumer and organisation trading communities online will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system for creating consumer and organisational trading communities online in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a possible interaction between the Online Communities system and businesses that do not have or manage a website; Figure 3 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary revenue management system employed in the Online Communities system of Figure 1; Figure 4 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary e-Sale e-Marketing Management 5 system employed in the Online Communities system of Figure 1; Figure 5 illustrates the interaction between the e-Sales e-Marketing Management system and the Revenue Management System of Figures 3 and 4; Figure 6 illustrates an exemplary Ad Schedule database employed in the Revenue Management System and e-Sales e-Marketing system of Figures 3 and 4; Figure 7 illustrates a possible interaction between Online Communities system and a Community Service Organisation; and, Figure 8 illustrates a possible interaction between Online Communities and a Business.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS This invention relates generally to a method, process and system for establishing communities to interact, trade, inform, assist in an integrated online environment.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates one embodiment of the system for creating consumer and organisational trading communities online in accordance with the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, customers can place orders with businesses that form part of the Online Communities service. At the heart of the system is the Online Communities Bureau Service 100 that acts as a hub for all the interactions between consumers 105 community organisations 108 and businesses 110 in the community. A customer 105 will need to have access to the Internet, but a business 110 can obtain the information from the customer 105 through the Bureau Service 100 that includes telephone, facsimile, or e-mail (including wireless communications) capabilities.

The customer 105 can be notified by return message that their request for products and services has been submitted and received by the target business 110 that forms part of the Online Communities network. This service is available even if the business does not have an online presence. The customer 105 can also communicate in real time with 6 other customers via the Community Forum 112 that forms part of the Bureau Service 100. A unique element of this real time conversation or collaboration or chat is that it is with people in the same physical geographic community.

The method of creating consumer and organisational trading communities online typically comprises a series of phases which must be performed if an organisation is to achieve the transition to the online environment. The first phase (e-Beginner) includes identification of the community, identifying the community service, business and local government sources. Data is input into a Community Monitoring, Development and Relationships System 405, Product Development, Management and Knowledge Systems Database 215. This phase also includes development of identified business initial free or low cost web pages using an Online Products Guide Database 425.

The second phase (Internet marketing) involves advertising and the collection of revenue. All Organisations 108 and 110 in a community being targeted are invited to advertise in Online communities. Different advertising packages are available and include an Online Product Guide Database 425, an Ad Schedule Database 410, an Ad Allocation Database 415, an Ad Reservation Database 420 and a Pricing ad Structures Database 325.

The third phase (E-mail Introduction) includes the generation of free or low cost e-mail address for Organisations 108 and 110. A customer Capability Database 210 is updated to indicate which Organisations are e-mail capable and which businesses 110 seeks to have Online Communities act as an extension of the Organisation and to manage their email functions.

The fourth phase (Bureau Services) is critical for assisting business develop new business processes for the online environment. Again, depending upon the technical capability of resource levels the Online Communities Bureau Service 100 offers a range of services to enable Organisations 108 and 110 to enter and grow in the online environment.

7 The fifth phase (Trading Community) is the integration of the business into a trading community where the supply (and demand) chain are conducted online using computers and other technologies.

Phase l(a) Introduction to the online environment A community is identified by e-Sales e-Marketing sytem 400. The e-Sales and e- Marketing and Customer Relationships System 400 progress through a computer based checklist of actions Community Monitoring, Development and Relationships System 405 to place the community online. Organisations 108 and 110 from the target community are recorded in a Customer Capability Database 210.

Phase 1(b) Developing Customer Capabilities Database An organisation's technology, computer/online capabilities and skills are recorded in the Customers Capability Database 210. Particular attention is given to organisations that do not have e-mail addresses and web sites. The findings are recorded in the Community Monitoring, Development and Relationships System 405 and the Customer Capability Database 210.

As an organisation's capabilities change, the community Monitoring, Development and Relationships System 405 and Customers Capability Database 210 will be updated.

Phase l(c) Providing Free or low cost Web Sites After Phase the Customers Capability Database 210 would have records of the capability of organisation in a geographical location to be targeted to migrate and operate in the online environment. This information is also made available to the Product Development and Management And Knowledge System 215. The Product Development and Management And Knowledge System 215 is used to develop new online products (eg. web pages) for the organisations that will form part of Online Communities. The online products will be built to QA Systems and Security Services 200 standards defined in Online Products Guide Database 220.

As each online product (eg. website) is developed, it is reviewed by QA Systems and 8 Security Services 200 and once approved the Customer Capability Database 210 is updated to reflect the changed status of the Organisation 108 or 110 and the Community Monitoring, Development and Relationships System 405. At this stage, the organisation now has an initial online presence.

Phase 2(a) Revenue Trigger and Building Initial Customer Loyalty The e-Sales and e-Marketing And Customer Relationships System 400 is triggered through the Community Monitoring, Development and Relationships System 405 and the Customers Capability Database 210. The trigger is predetermined by the number of Online Communities products produced for the selected community from the Customers Capability Database 210. The trigger informs e-Sales and e-Marketing 400 to begin the process of converting the free, or low cost online products into revenue generated products for Online Communities. This will be done initially through advertising.

e-Sales and e-Marketing 400 contact each organisation 108 and 110 that received a free, or low cost Online Community product to participate in marketing and awareness campaign. This advertising campaign will increase the organisations exposure to the online (through the computer) and non-online (traditional paper advertising) community.

i •Organisations 108 and 110 will now have the opportunity to advertise in the local press an across multiple communities that have an Online Communities presence. For many businesses, this will be their first opportunity to advertise on a regular basis in a community paper and online through Online Communities.

Phase 2(b) Initial Advertising Revenue e-Sales and e-Marketing 400 recruit and record Organisations 108 and 110 to advertising through Online Communities. As organisations are recruited, information is recorded into the Ad Schedule Database 410 and Ad Reservation Database 420, the Transaction Monitoring Database 305 and the Customer Order and Management Database 205 records. Cost for advertising is determined from the Pricing and Structures database 325. Organisations that seek to promote their organisations in the 9 online environment and through local press will have their advertising requirements detailed in the Transaction Monitoring Database 305, the Ad Schedule Database 410, Ad Allocation Database 415 (allocates where the site will be placed on a particular online product), and Ad Reservation Database 420.

The Pricing and Structures Database 325 establishes a plurality of advertising classes for the communities, and utilises historical data to forecast demand for advertising overtime (ie. a demand curve) for advertising within a given phase of a communities development. Once the advertisement is available, revenue will be deducted from the Organisation and payment recorded in the Transaction Monitoring Database 305.

SPhase 2(c) Initial Web Site Enhancement Revenue Organisations 108 or 110 can also seek to enhance their online product. The :...organisations can place an order through e-Sales and e-Marketing 400 to have their website enhanced. A record of this order will be submitted to Customer Order and Management Database 205.

The enhancement schedule will be scheduled and developed in the Product Development and Management And Knowledge System 215. Once the enhancement is commissioned, revenue will be deducted from the Organisation ad payment recorded in the Transaction Monitoring Database 305.

Phase 3(a) Introduction of E-mail to supplement the Online Communities Web Site With the introduction of e-mail, Online Communities will offer a service that will allow the Organisation to be contacted by e-mail. However, the main purpose of having email capability is to allow Consumers 105 and Organisations 108 and 110 to send information to the Online Communities business and prepare organisations for future participation in a community based trading community (Phase This will eventually evolve into products and services through Online Communities.

Phase 4(a) Integrating the Web-site, E-mail and other technologies into an existing business model 10 The invention preferably uses a computer system Online Communities Bureau Service 100 to determine optimal allocation among a plurality of technical methods and then transmit/receives product and service information based on the determination. If the Organisation 108 or 110 has phone or facsimile capability, the Consumer 105 e-mail message is converted to facsimile, then transmitted to the Organisation. The sequence of operation is as follows: A consumer 105 sends an e-mail message to an Organisation 108 or 110. The Organisation has telephone and facsimile capability, an e-mail address (allocated by Online Communities) but does not have the technical capability (eg. Internet Access) to directly send or receive the e-mail. Instead, the e-mail is sent to Online Communities Bureau Service 100. The Online Communities Bureau Service 100 has access to the o technical capability of the organisation 108 or 110 through the Customer Capability Database 210. The Online Communities Bureau Service 100 now transmits the e-mail to the Organisation 108 or 110 in accordance with the capabilities of the organisation (eg. by facsimile). How the Organisation 108 or 110 receives the message is determined by the Organisation's technical capability, knowledge of online services business processes.

0%.

Phase 5(a) Participating in a Trading Community Monitoring, Development and Relationships System 405 The methods and processes used through the phase outlined above culminate in the participation of an interactive trading community based on, but not limited to predefined geographical areas.

Figure 2 illustrates in block diagram form a typical interaction between the Online Communities System and a Business Customer 110 that does not have or manage a Website 120. In this scenario, the Online Community Central Bureau 100 develops, hosts and maintains a Website 120 on behalf of the Business Customer 110. Consumers 105 or other business may conduct online transactions via the Website 120 which is supported by the Online Communities e-Sales e-Marketing And Customer Relationships System 400, Product Management And Knowledge System 215, Revenue 11 Management System 300 and Quality Assurance and Security Services 200. The Online Community Central Bureau Service 100 communicates the online transactions to the Business Customer 110 by telephone, facsimile or e-mail depending on the technical capability of the Business Customer 110. This is the first phase in the process of introducing a Business Customer 110 to the online environment. In due course, the aim is to facilitate the migration of the business customer to a full participation in the online environment supported by the services provided through the Online Communities System and services.

Figure 3 illustrates in more detail a preferred embodiment of the Revenue Management System 300 employed in the Online Community System. The Revenue Management System 300 typically resides on a dedicated server and includes its own Central Processing Unit 330 which controls the online transactions conducted via the Online Communities System. Online communications are controlled by a Communications Processor 335. The Central Processing Unit 330 also controls the storage and retrieval of information from a plurality of Data Storage Devices 340. Data Storage Devices 340 have a number of databases stored thereon, including a Transactions Database 345 on which all transactions conducted via the Online Community Systems are recorded.

ee Figure 4 illustrates a similar arrangement for a preferred embodiment of the e-Sales and e-Marketing Management And Customer Relationships System 400. This system is also supported by a dedicated server having its own central processing unit 430 and communications processor 435. The e-Sales and e-Marketing and Customer Relationships System 400 is used to manage the process of converting the free, or low cost, on-line products offered by on-line communities into revenue generating products, initially through advertising. For this reason, the CPU 430 provides access to a number of data storage devices 440 on which a number of databases are held, including databases recording and maintaining the scheduling, allocation and reservation of advertising space respectively. A customer logo database 445 is also maintained.

Access to an external electronic storage facility 455 for advertisements is provided via e-mail under the control of electronic mail processor 450.

12 Figure 5 illustrates in block diagram form the way in which the e-Sales and e-Marketing and Customer Relationships System 400 typically interacts with the revenue management system 300. When organisations 110 have been recruited to advertise through Online Communities services, details of the advertising schedule are recorded in the Add Schedule Database 410 and Add Allocation Database 415. The Customer Logo Database 220 is employed to generate the advertisements. The cost of advertising is determined form the Pricing and Structures Database 325, and once the advertisement is available, revenue will be deducted from the organisation and payment recorded via the Revenue Management System 300. Figure 6 illustrates typical entries in the Add Schedule Database 310. As can be seen from the section headed "Advertising Revenue" in the table of Figure 6, the system provides for different classes of advertising (Gold Sponsor, Silver Sponsor or Local sponsorship packages). The database also includes historical information relating to the number of advertisements booked and the amount of advertising space utilised. This information is used by the e-Sales and e-Marketing and Customer Relationships System 400 to forecast demand for advertising over time within a given phase of a community's development.

The Online Communities system and method for creating consumer and organisation trading communities on-line is not limited to integrating businesses into the on-line environment, but is also used for integrating community service organisations into the on-line environment. Figure 7 illustrates the type of information that will be accessible via the Online Communities system in connection with, for example, a community medical clinic. On the other hand, Figure 8 illustrates the information that would typically be available via the Online Communities system in connection with a business, in this case a real estate agent.

The described embodiment of the method and system for creating consumer and organisational trading communities has a number of significant advantages including, but not limited to the following: It aids business introduction and integration into the online environment.

(ii) It integrates multiple technologies to satisfy the requirements of consumers.

13 (iii) It assists businesses increase knowledge and develop additional practical services for the online environment.

(iv) It provides a set of target transition points (phases) for organisations, to enable the introduction of online services to move advanced organisations, namely: a. e-Beginner phase; b. Internet marketing phase; c. E-mail phase; d. Bureau Service phase; and e. Trading Community phase.

Numerous variations and modifications will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the computer and e-commerce arts, in addition to those already described, without departing from the basic inventive concepts. All such variations and modifications are to be considered within the scope of the present invention, the nature of which is to be d determined from the foregoing description and the appended claims.

Claims (12)

1. A method of creating an online trading community amongst organisations and consumers within a geographical boundary, the method comprising the steps of: identifying and monitoring organisations including businesses within the geographical boundary of a target community; recording information about the online capabilities of said organisations in a capability database; and, developing and hosting an initial free or low cost web site for selected organisations irrespective of whether said selected organisations have access to the online environment whereby, in use, said selected organisations begin to develop a presence in the online environment.

2. A method of creating an online trading community as defined in claim 1, wherein the method comprises the further steps of: inviting said selected organisation to advertise in the online environment; €0. creating a special advertising listing and managing an advertising space for selected organisations who accept an invitation; and collecting revenue from said selected organisations based on the type of advertising space purchased.

3. A method of creating an online trading community as defined in claim 2, wherein the method further comprises the steps of: generating free or low cost e-mail addresses for said selected organisations; and, 15 updating the capability database to indicate which organisations are on-line capable and which prefer external management of their on-line functions.

4. A method of creating an online trading community as defined in claim 1, wherein the method also includes the step of: receiving communications online from consumers in relation to products or services offered by said selected organisations and transmitting said comunications to the selected organisations via an appropriate communications medium based on the information stored in said capability database.

5. A method of creating an online trading community as defined in claim 2, wherein said steps of creating a special advertising listing through the online environment and managing the online advertising space, include making the specified times of advertising available via an e-sales, e-marketing and customer service system; and, examining a plurality of website advertisements which would fulfil the specified requirements of a business.

6. A system for creating an online trading community amongst organisations and consumers within a geographical boundary the system comprising: means for identifying and monitoring organisations including businesses within the geographical boundary of a target community; means for recording information about the online capabilities of said organisations in a capability database; and, means for developing and hosting an initial free or low cost web site for selected organisations irrespective of whether said selected organisations have access to the online environment whereby, in use, said selected organisations begin to develop a presence in the online environment. 16

7. A system of creating an online trading community as defined in claim 6, wherein the system further comprises: means for inviting said selected organisation to advertise in the online environment; means for creating a special advertising listing and managing an advertising space for selected organisations who accept an invitation; and means for collecting revenue from said selected organisations based on the type of advertising space purchased. .4

8. A system of creating an online trading community as defined in claim 7, wherein the system further comprises: means for generating free or low cost e-mail addresses for said selected organisations; and, means for updating the capability database to indicate which organisations are e-mail capable and which prefer external management of their e-mail functions.

9. A system of creating an online trading community as defined in claim 6, wherein the system also includes: means for receiving communications online from consumers in relation to products or services offered by said selected organisations and transmitting said communications to the selected organisations via an appropriate communications medium based on the information stored in said capability database.

10. A system of creating an online trading community as defined in claim 7, wherein said means for creating a special advertising listing through the online environment and managing the online advertising space, includes an e-sales e- 17 marketing and customer services system for making the specified times of advertising available; and, examining a plurality of website advertisements which would fulfil the specified requirements of a business.

11. A method of creating an online trading community amongst organisations and consumers within a geographical boundary substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

12. A system for creating an online trading community amongst organisations and consumers within a geographical boundary substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated this 27' day of April 2001 ARTHUR MAHLON WILSON By His Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK Fellows Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia