FI104859B - Method for making trade more efficient - Google Patents

Abstract

The aim of the invention is a method for making trade more efficient, in which in order to acquire a product, service and/or the like, the customer makes contact Y by means of his data processing apparatus X through a data communication contact with a server A which is in at least one data link connection with a service provider T, whereupon when the contact has been able to select, confirm or pay for the required product, service and/or the like, whereupon the server A confirms, after personal information, contact information or credit information or the like has been confirmed, that the purchase has taken place correctly and sends the customer a payment which proves the validity of the purchase. A communication apparatus X is used as the customer's data processing apparatus which is able to make data communication contacts and which is portable, to which is sent the payment V which has been created by the server A during the contact Y and which is preferably provided with a customer identification, in order to store the payment in electronic form in the memory of the customer's communication apparatus X1. <IMAGE>

Description

1 104859

A Method to Enhance Trade

The present invention relates to a method of commerce enhancement, wherein the customer, in order to obtain a product, service and / or the like, uses after contacting, selects, confirms and / or pays for the product, service and / or equivalent they wish, and after verifying the server, personal, contact, credit and / or similar, verifies the purchase transaction correctly and at least provides the customer with proof of purchase confirmation.

This type of principle works today, for example, with ticket sales from various carriers or entertainment providers, whereby the customer can, via his or her own computer, contact the service provider's server over the Internet, book, pay, and obtain the ticket itself. Today ··; However, in order to be able to use the actual service purchased, such as a ticket to entertain an entertainment event, the customer must apply in advance for the ticket they have booked. The major disadvantage of this type of operation is that the customer first has to apply separately. · * The fact that, on the one hand, the actual ticket and, on the other hand, the service provider will have to either mail the ticket to the customer or, on the other hand, queue up customers 35 who have already booked the ticket.

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On the other hand, for example, DE 196 34 169 or US 5,239,480 discloses a system comprising individual self-service terminals connected to a closed network (US 5,239,480) or e.g.

5 modems (DE 196 34 169) to specific servers, e.g. various sports, theater, musical events etc. organizers. Each terminal has, firstly, the equipment required for the purchase and also the printers so that the customer 10 can select and pay the tickets for the event of his choice from the network-connected sources and print them for himself. access to the event.

First of all, this solution has the problem that such a system, such as ATMs / ATMs, is very expensive to assemble and maintain because it requires a very massive entity where each terminal is connected to the servers of all the event organizers connected to the system. For this reason, firstly, the client has, in practice, a very limited choice of options, since combining a very large number with a particular closed system is not practically easy to implement and therefore suitable for use in a relatively limited environment. In addition, the customer always naturally has to deal with the terminal connected to the system. Therefore, if this type of network were to be as customer-oriented as possible, these terminals would have to be very widely distributed. For this reason, the population in particular in sparsely populated areas is, in practice, in a position of inequality vis-à-vis residential centers, where the implementation of the system may even be • to some extent satisfactory.

35 Further, WO 97/45814 discloses an electronic trading method which uses, first, a mobile telephone and, on the other hand, an acknowledgment of a duly completed purchase transaction to the customer's 3 104859 communication device.

It is an object of the method of the present invention to provide a significant improvement on the above problems and thus substantially increase the state of the art. To accomplish this purpose, the method of the invention is essentially characterized in that the consideration generated by the server, enabling the utilization of the product, service, and / or similar acquisition, such as the entrance ticket or the like, is provided to the client for electronic storage.

15

The main advantage of the method according to the invention is, first of all, its simplicity, reliability and applicability in a variety of contexts and purposes. The method according to the invention can be applied as well in connection with the actual sale of tickets as with, for example, the sale of various products. A further advantage of the method according to the invention is that anyone can, for example, with his or her own GSM telephone or similar data communication equipment, be equipped with e.g. via the pocket computer, to make IV all the necessary purchase measures, ie to select, secure and, inexpensively, also pay, for example, a payment for the desired service or event, after which the server generates a consideration, e.g. directly to the customer's GSM phone or similar memory. Thus, first of all, no closure is required anymore, e.g.

· · A ready-made network connected to certain service providers, but in this connection one can always make use of the widest possible existing network, eg the Internet as such. For this reason, of course, the customer also has the widest range of service providers available.

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A further advantageous application of the method is that it is advantageous for the service provider to verify the identifier of the physical consideration provided to the customer by using e.g. an automatic reader which, upon verifying the consideration of the customer 5, enables the completion of trading, e.g.

Preferred embodiments of the method of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims to the process.

In the following description, the invention will be illustrated in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figs.

• · '• ·

The present invention relates to a method of commerce enhancement in which a customer obtains a product, a service and / or the like on his own data processing device X using a portable communication device X1 capable of communication, via a communication link at least with the service provider T 35, after having contacted, selects, confirms and / or pays for the desired product, service and / or equivalent, and then verifies the correctness of the purchase, after verifying the identity, contact, credit and / or similar information of server A s 104859 and at least provide the customer with confirmation of the correctness of the purchase. The consideration generated by the server during the connection and enabling the utilization of the acquired product, service, and / or similar, such as an entry ticket or the like, is provided to the customer for storage in the memory of the customer access device.

10

Further, as a preferred embodiment of the method, the consideration stored by the customer in the access device X1 is checked at the time when the product, service and / or similar acquisition is utilized or the like by preferably 15 automatic readers B, whereby the contact device X1 and the server A and / or service provider T the contact verifies the correctness of the consideration V to enable 20 transactions to be completed, such as the delivery of the purchased item or the customer's access to the item for payment.

As a preferred embodiment, the mobile communication device X1 is used as a mobile telephone, such as GSM, .. · NMT, a satellite telephone and / or the like, in which the memory V transmitted by the server A is stored in the connected memory. In a preferred embodiment, the counter V transmitted by the server A is stored in the base station memory, the SIM card, the auxiliary memory card and / or the like in the mobile phone.

• · *

In a further preferred embodiment, an open communication network such as an intranet, the Internet, a modem connection or the like is used as the communication link.

In a further preferred embodiment of the method, the consideration transmitted by the server A is transmitted and stored in the memory of a 104859 6 client personal access device X1, such as a mobile phone or the like, in an encrypted or similarly processed form.

5

In particular, in the exemplary alternative operating principles for service acquisition in Figures la, Fig. 1a illustrates a solution in which a customer contacts X1 via Service Provider T with Server X1 and possibly with a financial institution or transaction similar to M. that server A is essentially connected directly to service provider T's hardware in connection 15. In the above-mentioned solutions, information can be transmitted, for example, between mobile phone X1 and server A, alternatively using, for example, infrared, LPRS or similar communication C. In this context, LPRS communication-20 refers to the so-called undergoing development. lähietäisyysra-diosignaalitekniikkaa. Further, Figure le shows an alternative solution to the above in that the customer's mobile phone X1 is in direct communication with e.g. a personal computer PC which is still e.g. connected to the actual server A, which is still connected to the service provider T and the corresponding network. / or financial institution M.

30

Further, the exemplary operating principles 2a to 2c illustrating the use of the service are shown in Figure 2a.

a solution in which the customer contacts his or her own mobile phone X1 either by calling Y or the 35 infrared or LPRS communications mentioned above C

using server A, which checks / receives customer's consideration V from the customer's mobile phone.

The solution shown in Figure 2a corresponds to the principle corresponding to the above figure 1a for the service provider 7 104859 T and to the financial institution M and Figure 2b respectively to the above figure Ib. Similarly, Fig. 2c illustrates an alternative solution in which the pay-off V in the customer's mobile phone X1 is transmitted / checked by the service provider T and / or the server A via the LPRS, infrared connection C or the like between the above-mentioned devices.

It is clear that the invention is not limited to the foregoing or to the illustrated examples, but can be very substantially modified within the scope of the basic idea. Of course, all possible future portable and connectable devices 15 are contemplated when operating in accordance with the basic concept of the invention, that is, when the customer contacts the service provider's server or the like, which transmits the identified consideration to the customer's device after purchase.

On the other hand, the invention makes it possible to store so-called. besides the ticket information, for example, a variety of other documents such as personal data, access passes, and further developed, such as identity cards, passports, \\ driving licenses, etc.

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Claims (6)

A method of commerce enhancement, wherein the customer contacts, via his own data processing device (X), a portable communication device (X1) capable of communicating with his / her own data processing device (X), at least with the service provider (Y). directly communicates with the server (A), then, upon connection, selects, confirms and / or pays for the desired product, service and / or equivalent, and then, after verifying the server (A), verifies personal, contact, credit and / or similar The purchase transaction is correctly executed and provides the customer with at least a validation of the purchase transaction, characterized in that the consideration (V) formed by the server (A) during the connection (Y) and enabling the utilization of the purchased product, service and / or similar purchase corresponding, t delivered to the customer for storage in the memory of the customer access device (X1) in electronic form. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the consideration (V) stored by the customer in the contacting device (X1) is checked in connection with the utilization or the like of the product, service and / or similar purchase, preferably by an automatic reading device (B). A) and / or Service Provider (T): At least the communication link between the • communication device (B) communicating with the information determines the correctness of the consideration for completing the transaction, such as the delivery of the purchased item or the customer's access to the item. s 104859 The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the portable communication device (X1) is a mobile phone, such as GSM, NMT, satellite and / or the like, in the connection of which the confirmation transmitted by the server (A) is stored, characterized by that the compensation (V) transmitted by the server (A) is stored in the basic memory of the mobile phone, the SIM card, the additional memory card and / or the like. Method according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 3, characterized in that an open communication network, such as an intranet, the Internet, a modem connection or the like, is used as the communication connection. 15 Method according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the counter (V) transmitted by the server (A) is transmitted and stored in the memory of the client personal access device (X1), such as a mobile phone or the like, in encrypted or processed form. Method according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 5 25, characterized in that the counter (V) transmitted by the server (A) is provided with a client-specific identifier. I «· 10 104859