Abstract: Systems and methods are described for providing a global bilateral buyer-driven system for creating binding contracts by incorporating various methods of communication, commerce and security for the buyers and the sellers. Individual buyers purchase requirements are aggregated into a single collective purchase requirement and sellers are located willing to bid on the collective purchase requirement. A central controller facilitates the buyer/seller transaction by fielding binding offers from buyers, aggregating those offers into group (i.e. pooled) offers and communicating those group offers globally in a format which can be efficiently accessed and analyzed by potential sellers. This system can also effectuate performance of resulting contracts, resolve disputes arising from those contracts, and maintain billing, collection, authentication, and anonymity. The methods disclosed are applicable to any commerce situation involving buyers and sellers.

Abstract: Secure electronic transactions using a trusted intermediary with non-repudiation of receipt and contents of message. A system of, and method for, securely transmitting a package from a sender to a recipient, via an intermediary, are described, as is a novel data arrangement, stored in a computer-readable medium. A sender encrypts the message to form an encrypted inner envelope. A waybill is formed that among other things identifies the recipient as the destination and includes information indicating various levels of services desired, e.g., electronic notarization. The waybill and inner envelope are used to form an encrypted outer envelope that is addressed to a trusted intermediary. The intermediary receives the package and decrypts the outer envelope. It is unable to decrypt the inner envelope, due to the keys employed during encryption. The service information is processed, and the package is used to form a second package addressed to the recipient.

Abstract: A system for employing the projected receipts of a public facility to finance the construction of the facility itself, or the acquisition of a team to play in the facility. A preferred system includes: a method for projecting future cash flows (e.g., gate receipts) associated with the operation of the facility; pooling rights to receive those cash flows; transferring the pooled rights to a special purpose vehicle; and issuing securities on behalf of the special purpose vehicle in order to generated revenues for the construction and/or operating costs of the facility, or for the purchase of the team itself. The system also includes a computerized method for the ongoing implementation of such a financing system, including the steps of: inputting estimated cash flows and actual cash receipts; comparing the estimated and actual values in order to determine adjusted amounts to allocate between investors in the special purpose vehicle and ongoing operations.

Abstract: A method and system in a computer system for tracking the productivity of technical support specialists in a call center environment. The system displays on a display device a form for entry of normal activity and exceptions to normal activity. The system receives from the technical support specialist indications of normal activity and exceptions. Each indication of an exception includes its type and its length. The system stores indications of the normal activity and exceptions. Upon receiving a request to transmit an exception report, the system retrieves the stored indications and formats the stored indications into an electronic mail message. The system then presents the formatted electronic mail message to the technical support specialist so that modifications to formatted electronic mail message can be made. Finally, the system sends the electronic mail message to a central location so that electronic mail messages from multiple technical support specialists can be collected and processed.

Abstract: An open-architecture system automatically consolidates information from a plurality of financial systems into a single accounting system without the need for expensive and time-consuming backroom procedures. The system enables an entity to use multiple independent and potentially incompatible financial systems to facilitate, control and monitor its spending, purchasing and other financial activities, while also enabling the entity to monitor and control all of these activities in real time. The system receives, processes and stores information obtained from a plurality of financial and/or other external computerized systems, and provides one or more authorized users with the ability to monitor financial transactions on-line and manipulate and control all financial transactions of the entity in real time using, for example, Web-browser software technology. Different users may have different levels of access to the financial transaction data obtained, processed and stored by the system.

Abstract: An architecture and system loads and uses a smart card for payment of goods and/or services purchased on-line over the Internet. A client module on a client terminal controls the interaction with a consumer and interfaces to a card reader which accepts the consumer's smart card and allows loading and debiting of the card. Debiting works in conjunction with a merchant server and a payment server. Loading works in conjunction with a bank server and a load server. The Internet provides the routing functionality between the client terminal and the various servers. A payment server on the Internet includes a computer and a security module (or a security card in a terminal) to handle the transaction, data store and collection. A merchant server advertises the goods and/or services offered by a merchant for sale on a web site. The merchant contracts with an acquirer to accept smart card payments for goods and/or services purchased over the Internet.

Abstract: A system and method for merchant invoked electronic commerce allowing consumers to purchase items over a network and merchants to receive payment information relating to the purchases. The system includes a server having software which gathers the purchasing information from a consumer to complete a purchasing transaction over a network. The system has a consumer data structure that stores purchasing information for registered consumers. The software is able to access the consumer data structure and enter the consumer's purchasing information during subsequent purchases. Having the software obtain and enter the consumer's purchasing information, the consumer does not have to enter the same information every time they purchase an item over the network. In alternate embodiments, the same technology can be applied to other arenas where a user may have to enter the same repetitive information.

Abstract: A system for processing an order to change communication service includes a client that receives order data and an authorization image associated with a customer that desires to change communication service. The system also includes a server coupled to the client using a communication network. The server receives the order data and the authorization image from the client, generates a service request using the order data, and initiates communication of the service request to a communication service provider of the customer to change communication service.

Abstract: A method for conducting transaction between first user and a remote second user interlinked through a communication network, by utilizing also a clearing office interlinked to the network. The clearing office storing the user privileged information. The method including the steps of the user and the clearing office establishing a cryptographic secured session, the user transmitting, via the session, a user privileged information and transaction specific data, the transaction specific data being indicative of a transaction identification data. The clearing office activating transaction validity checking procedure by utilizing a user privileged information and the transaction specific data. In response to affirmative result of the transaction validity checking, the clearing office producing a transaction validity indication being indicative of the transaction identification code.

Abstract: A system and method is provided for monitoring and enhancing computer assisted performance. The method includes providing a user interface for a business terminal, measuring the performance of the user interaction with the user interface, adjusting parameters of the user interface to try to increase the performance of the user interaction, tracking whether the performance has increased, and causing an escalation event to occur if the user performance is below a predetermined level. The system and method preferably includes creating a user profile of the parameters that obtain the best performance for each user. This user profile may be created during new employee orientation but is updated continually as the user uses the business terminal to complete actual business transactions.

Abstract: Failure information and cash reserve information for each automatic transaction machine 5 are collected at a monitoring center 5. In a dispatch condition table, criteria for making decisions such as a dispatch standby being required when a specific number of automatic transaction machines are not operating at a given point in time are displayed. A dispatch decision making portion references the dispatch condition table to display the necessity for a dispatch, the necessity for a dispatch standby and the like on the display. Since the decision making criteria in regard to whether or not a service person should be placed on standby for dispatch or whether or not a request for dispatch should be issued are clearly defined in correspondence to the number of operating machines and the state of the cash reserve, suitable measures can be taken in correspondence to the state of each automatic transaction machine, thereby reducing the responsibility of the operator at the monitoring center.