A practical system and method for the remote distribution of financial services (e.g., home banking and bill-paying) involves distributing portable terminals to a user base. The terminals include a multi-line display, keys “pointing to” lines on the display, and additional keys. Contact is established between the terminals and a central computer operated by a service provider, preferably over a dial-up telephone line and a packet data network. Information exchange between the central computer and the terminal solicits information from the terminal user related to requested financial services (e.g., for billpaying, the user provides payee selection and amount and his bank account PIN number). The central computer then transmits a message over a conventional ATM network debiting the user's bank account in real time, and may pay the specified payees the specified amount electronically or in other ways as appropriate. Payments and transfers may be scheduled in advance or on a periodic basis. Because the central computer interacts with the user's bank as a standard POS or ATM network node, no significant software changes are required at the banks' computers. The terminal interface is extremely user-friendly and incorporates some features of standard ATM user interfaces so as to reduce new user anxiety.

Method and system for remote delivery of retail banking services

An intelligent automated assistant system engages with the user in an integrated, conversational manner using natural language dialog, and invokes external services when appropriate to obtain information or perform various actions. The system can be implemented using any of a number of different platforms, such as the web, email, smartphone, and the like, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the system is based on sets of interrelated domains and tasks, and employs additional functionally powered by external services with which the system can interact.

Intelligent Automated Assistant

A transaction security apparatus which comprises a transaction device, wherein the transaction device one of generates and transmits a first signal in response to a transaction, and a communication device associated with an individual account. The communication device receives the first signal. The communication device generates a second signal which provides a notification to the individual account holder of the transaction. The transaction device transmits the first signal to the communication device. The first signal is transmitted over a communication network directly to the communication device.

Transaction security apparatus and method

A virtual assistant uses context information to supplement natural language or gestural input from a user. Context helps to clarify the user's intent and to reduce the number of candidate interpretations of the user's input, and reduces the need for the user to provide excessive clarification input. Context can include any available information that is usable by the assistant to supplement explicit user input to constrain an information-processing problem and/or to personalize results. Context can be used to constrain solutions during various phases of processing, including, for example, speech recognition, natural language processing, task flow processing, and dialog generation.

Using context information to facilitate processing of commands in a virtual assistant

The present invention relates to a terminal (1) for a communication network, the terminal being capable of supporting a plurality of applications (17, 18) and having means of communicating user messages. The terminal comprises means for receiving user messages having data and a header relating to one of the applications (17, 18) and means (8) for addressing the data to a respective application according to the header. In an embodiment the user messages are short messages and the data comprises characters in the short message.

A communication network terminal supporting a plurality of applications

A method and apparatus for adapting a help menu on a user interface, utilizing an input method such as a speech recognition system, for increased efficiency. A list of menu items is presented on the user interface including an optional menu item to reinstate any previously removed menu items. A user selects an item from the menu, such as a help menu, which can then be removed from the list of menu items in accordance with predetermined criteria. The criteria can include how many times the menu item has been accessed and when. In this way, help menu items that are familiar to a user are removed to provide an abbreviated help menu which is more efficient and less frustrating to a user, particularly in a busy and distracting environment such as a vehicle.

Adaptive menu for a user interface

Method and apparatus for communicating credit card information read at a mobile radiotelephone unit is disclosed. Data read from a credit card is placed in a variable length error protected format and transmitted from the mobile radiotelephone unit to authorize payment of the radiotelephone call.

Radiotelephone credit card data communications

A wireless unit or hub for a vehicle includes a wireless communication interface, such as a Bluetooth® interface. The hub stores profiles for wireless devices that can actively interact with the hub. The wireless devices, which can be cellular phones, headsets, portable music players, and Personal Digital Assistants, are capable of providing audio data, visual data, or both to the hub. The hub monitors for wireless devices in a personal area network of the hub. Based on the profiles, the hub establishes wireless connections with the wireless devices. Using an arbitration scheme, the hub controls the delivery of audio and/or visual data provided by the wireless devices to one or more modules communicatively coupled to the hub. The modules, which can be a user interface module, audio module, visual modules, navigation system, and vehicle entertainment system, are capable of delivering audio, visual, or audio-visual data in the vehicle.

System and method for handling simultaneous interaction of multiple wireless devices in a vehicle

A method and apparatus for remotely loading a telephone number into a mobile unit is disclosed. A registration computer in a credit card payment radiotelephone system places a call to a mobile radiotelephone unit and conveys a telephone number to the mobile unit which is stored at the mobile unit. This telephone number may later be recalled and transmitted by the mobile unit to accomplish a telephone call.

Radiotelephone telephone number down loading

Described are methods and systems to preset a Bluetooth enabled headset and a Bluetooth enabled conference hub, so that at the time of a conference call, they are pre-paired and ready for use. Pairing information of a particular Bluetooth headset may be stored with a server and downloaded to a particular conference at the time of the scheduled conference. When a conference call is scheduled, via for example an email client conference scheduling tool, the hub will be automatically preset so that when a particular user with a headset comes within range, the headset and hub are paired and may transmit and receive communications between them. The described methods and systems can be used in large scale and small scale businesses with dynamic conferencing needs. The methods and systems can integrate with widely available email client conference scheduling tools currently used by many business enterprises.

Daniel S. Rokusek

Papers

Adaptive menu for a user interface

Radiotelephone credit card data communications

System and method for handling simultaneous interaction of multiple wireless devices in a vehicle

Radiotelephone telephone number down loading

Methods and devices for dynamic mobile conferencing with automatic pairing