Online information retrieval system

ES 2 149 697 B1

DESCRIPTION

Tele-survey system.

The tele-polling system is a new procedure for polling, whose content peculiarity is the possibility of remote polling through a monitored self-filling system, either autonomous or remotely assisted, and whose information resulting from the system is likely to be stored informally or sent through telecommunication systems.

The system is arranged in a booth-type structure, either open or closed, with one or more keyboard or survey stations. Structure that was communicated with a computing center to which data are sent for subsequent analysis.

This structure, which we will call the container cabin for the set, has inside a series of components that were explained and that enable its operation.

The ultimate intention of the system is the possibility of dispensing with the interviewer as a figure between the data specified in a survey and the respondent, or at least their reduction or remote assistance. For this, the cabin has been arranged such that it is located at a fixed point and allows a person to self-survey, either independently or remotely assisted through new technologies.

In essence, the system that is the object of the invention:

- It collects data from people that they themselves, in an assisted or autonomous way, record and enter through the touch screen or keyboard and are assisted by all the multimedia components, such as videoconferencing, speakers, graphics cards, microphones, etc.

- Transmits the data that it has recorded through a modem or any other technology that has this purpose.

- Allows interaction with the machine and with remote teleoperators.

- It issues vouchers, tickets, or money for incentive purposes when filling in or recording the survey, or providing any subsequent service.

In short, it allows the realization of surveys visually, graphically and with sound, all the time assisted interactively with the machine or remotely with a teleoperator. Surveys and data that are sent to a computer center through telecommunication techniques (modem or telephone, or fiber optic) for subsequent information processing.

To better understand the object of the present invention, a preferred form of practical realization is represented in the plans, susceptible to accessory changes that do not alter its foundation.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the phosphoric components of the system object of the invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the functions to be performed by the components of Figure 1.

An example of a practical, non-limiting embodiment of the present invention is described below.

System Components

Within the components, a distinction must be made between the elements of the tele-survey terminals (3) located in places accessible to the public (1) and the central system (4) in charge of monitoring the remote terminals, collecting and processing the surveys and creating new ones. surveys to use.

Tele-survey terminals (3)

A tele-survey terminal (3) is understood to be a telematic terminal that allows the user (1) to carry out electronic surveys through its components. The tele-survey terminal is phosphically a booth type structure, either open or closed that communicates via LAN or WAN to a server center to which it sends data for subsequent analysis.

The tele-survey terminals can be of three types depending on both the type of connection they use to the central server (4) and the type of functionality they perform, being the usual one and the one discovered at TT1 (3).

- TT1: tele-survey terminal connected via PSTN / ISDN / GSM to a provincial server (SCEP) or to the central server (SCEN).

The other two terminals TT2 and TT3 are only derivatives of TT1.

- TT2: Tele-polling terminal connected in a local network to a master tele-polling terminal.

- TT3: Master tele-survey terminal that, in addition to the TT2 functions, makes the connection to the central system (SCEN) to send data and update the local databases.

Tele-survey terminal TT1 (3)

In this case, the infrastructure is simplified by not having to establish a local air network between the different tele-survey terminals.

A modem (5) is provided for each terminal (3) to connect with the central system (4). They will also need a telephone line (6) and a CD.ROM reader (7).

Next we will describe the functionality of the components:

- CPU or Central Processing Unit (8). The core of the personal computer that controlled all the functions of the tele-survey terminal (3)

- Sound card (9) with speakers (10) and microphone (11), converts digital sound into analog and vice versa. Allows the end user (1) to have audio options. The user can listen to the voice of the operator in case of having online help or show a sound fragment in the case of wanting to carry out surveys with audio options.

- Video encoder / decoder card (12). Its functionality consists of decoding the recorded video files (13) to be able to view them on the screen (14). The objective is to give the user (1) the possibility to view a video fragment associated with a certain survey. The purpose is to facilitate your understanding or ability to correctly answer a response, the publication of the products to be tested or others, for the purpose of your own marketing or simply that time passes while the system processes data.

- Keyboard and mouse (15). The keyboard and mouse may not be operational for the user (1) and the user may only use the touch screen

ES 2 149 697 B1 (14) to interact with the system. The keyboard and mouse are located inside the remote survey booth. In this case, its purpose is to serve as an interface between the maintenance user (2) and the terminal (3). This allows you to back-up - that is, back-up virtual identification (IP) versions, upload large-capacity multimedia surveys, etc.

- Touch screen (14). It allows the user (1) to carry out the surveys by selecting the different options displayed on the screen with their finger. The main characteristic of these screens is that they are sensitive to the touch, thus facilitating the user interface by eliminating intermediate mechanisms such as the keyboard and the mouse (15).

- Ticket printer (16) to issue cards, tokens, vouchers, etc.

-Video camera (17) to complete the interaction between the user and the system.

- A biometric recognition scanner (20), for example, from the user's hand (1) or similar recognition.

- A presence sensor (21) in the cabin carrying the tele-survey terminal.

- An identification card reader (22) for user (1) and employee (2).

- Coin dispenser (18): device located inside the cabin that enables the issuance of coins to the outside. The purpose of the device within the system is to reward users (1) who take surveys.

- Uninterruptible power supply unit (19): device that allows, in the event of a power failure, to keep the operating system for a period of time (10-15 minutes), depending on the capacity of each device.

- CD-ROM reader (7) to load large multimedia surveys, update versions or system configurations.

Central System (SCEN) (4)

The central system is made up of one or more computers that contain the stored information of the surveys carried out (23) and the identification data of the users (24). The information of both the surveys and the users is stored in database format.

The central system is connected to the outside through a router.

The central system (4) can be unique and all the terminals are connected to it or the TT1s (3) are connected to a server with which it will be necessary to repeat, totally or partially, the same central system in each of the server systems .

The central system (4) consists of:

- CPU (25): this is a powerful central processing unit that supports multitasking and multiprocessing.

- Sound card and speakers (26): to allow the operator (27) to establish audio communication with the tele-survey terminals (3) and thus offer on-line help.

- Video decoder card (27a) associated with video camera (27 '). The card (27a) will only be necessary if the central computer is used as a computer for the creation of surveys, or to carry out video conferences between the operator and the user.

- Keyboard and mouse (28): data entry device that allows the system operator to enter data.

- Printer (29): the computer can have a local printer or share a printer that gives the system the option to print the content of the surveys carried out.

- Modem (30): data input and output device that allows modulating and demodulating data from analog to digital and vice versa.

- CD-ROM reader (31): input device that allows reading the information stored in the multimedia compact discs used in the system for the distribution of the surveys.

The central system (4) will have a data bank (23) of surveys with their corresponding tables, and a data bank (24) for identifying users that, if desired, can be reproduced at least partially in each terminal (3) or intermediate master with what goes from a centralized to a decentralized system.

As can be seen in figure 2, the software of the tele-survey terminal (3) can be divided into two parts. This is because in the case of using several tele-survey terminals (3) by location, a part of the processes would be common to all terminals and therefore would be executed in the master tele-survey terminal, while the The rest (those at the bottom) would run on all terminals. The processes that are executed in all the terminals will act as clients of the processes of the master terminal.

A copy (241) of the identification database (24) of the central system (4) can be made available at the terminals (3).

The different functions of the tele-survey terminal (3) will be defined below:

- FT1: Identification Database Maintenance. This process would be in charge of collecting the new user identifications (1) that are produced, storing them temporarily until they are sent to the central system (4). It is also responsible for storing data on surveys answered by a user (1). It collects the updates of the identification database (24) of the central system (4).

-FT2: Comparison of biometrics. It collects the biometric data of the user (1) and compares them with those stored in the database (241).

- FT3: Local maintenance of responses. It stores in a file (32) the responses to all the surveys that have been carried out between two communications with the central system (4).

- FT4: User recruitment cycle. These are multimedia media that are displayed when no user is being served. The projection of this presentation is interrupted when a new user arrives. This cycle starts automatically when a user ends their surveys.

- FT5: Identification request. A new user cannot access the system immediately, but when a new user accesses the system for the first time, they must perform the following steps: Identify themselves as a new user3

ES 2 149 697 B1 rio, the system asks you for a series of data related to your profile, such as age, sex, place of residence or others and also asks for a pin, or access identifier keyword, the system will graphically expose you a method of choosing keys that is easy to identify and remember. Later, the system will ask for your biometric identification. This process starts when a new user arrives, at the end of the surveys, or even randomly during the completion of a survey. It collects the biometric data of a user and sends it to the comparison process (FT2). When negative results are obtained from a recognition, that is, when a user is not known, the user will be asked for their profile data if necessary and a new entry will be created in the identification database (24).

- FT6: Local survey viewer. This process is in charge of presenting the user with all the surveys (33) that are available and they will follow their choice or start the one they have chosen. When a survey is finished viewing, it will send responses to the local FT3 maintenance process.

The central system software functions (4) are as follows:

-FC1: Sending identification data. It will be responsible for sending the data from the identification database (24) that have changed since the last connection to the tele-survey terminal (3) to update the different copies (241) of the identification databases in the terminals tele-survey (3). To do this, you must keep a record of the changes produced in the database. This information includes both biometric and user profile data, as well as data on the databases filled out by a user.

- FC2: Data consistency check. This process is the most complex of the central system. It will be in charge of verifying that the data that reaches it is valid. That is to say, it will verify that when it receives data about the surveys completed by a user, these are filled in correctly and are surveys that this user could do both because of their profile and because they had not previously filled out. Once these checks have been carried out, it will be in charge of storing this data in both databases (23), (24).

- FC3: Reception of survey data and identifications.

Features Survey creation system software for the system

Survey creation comprises three main functions:

a) .- Create the tables of the survey database (23). The tables corresponding to each survey and the survey results are stored in these databases.

b) .- The presentation of the multimedia surveys. Through multimedia presentations the user (1) responds to the surveys.

c) .- Storage software. The Software through which the responses of a user (1) to a survey are stored in the database (23).

System operation.

The tele-survey terminal (3) remains ready at all times, presenting a user capture cycle (FT4). This cycle consists of a set of multimedia contents that are followed by inviting the public (1) to use the terminal (3). This cycle may also include advertisements.

When the system detects the presence of a possible user (1) already by a presence detector or because someone (1) touches the touch screen (14) or uses the identification system, for example biometrics, the user uptake cycle ( FT4) is interrupted and the user service process begins. This process begins with user recognition (FT5).

The first thing the user (1) who arrives at a tele-survey terminal (3) must do is identify himself. To do this, their biometric parameters are collected and compared (FT2) with those stored in the identification database (241).

In the identification database (241), for each user (1) their biometric data is stored, information on age, sex and address and the pin or word chosen as identification by the user (1) is stored. On the other hand, information about the surveys previously carried out by this person is also stored to avoid fraud.

If the user (1) is not found in the database (241), a new entry will be created and you will be asked to enter the necessary parameters to determine your profile. From the user's profile (1), the system determines the sector of the population to which the respondent belongs.

Once the profile is determined, it is checked which surveys have been answered by this person to prevent a person from repeatedly filling out a survey. Of the surveys that have not been answered, it is verified which require further entries from the user's population sector.

The tele-survey terminal (3) presents the user (1) on screen (14) with the surveys that they can choose from. If the user (1) chooses one of the surveys, then the survey presentation system (FT6) with the corresponding survey will be started.

The survey presentation system (FT6) consists of a process that presents the questions one after the other and allows the user to answer each one of them. The answers will be stored in a temporary file (32) that will later be sent to the survey database (23) of the central system (4).

At any time the user (1) can renounce to continue with the survey through an option that is presented on the screen (14). If you refuse to continue with the survey, the temporary file will be deleted and the entire survey will be canceled.

Once the survey is completed correctly, the user (1) will be able to receive a bonus. The bonus will be delivered through the printer

ES 2 149 697 B1 (16) or money for the vendor (18) or another prize, and then the user (1) may request to carry out another survey of the possible ones or leave the system. To verify that the user (1) has not changed during the survey, the system can check the user's identity at any time and it will always be verified that the user's identity has not changed before the survey is concluded. For this, the biometric data of the user is stored in a local copy (241). The user (1) will be asked to use the biometric data capture device (20) again. The data entered is compared (FT2) with that initially entered to verify that there has been no fraud.

If during the survey process, that is, while the survey presentation system (FT6) is running, a period of inactivity elapses without receiving a signal from the user (1), it will be presented interactively to the user and if there is no response it will be It will consider that the user has left the terminal (3), the survey will be deleted and it will return to the user recruitment cycle (FT4).

At all times the user is presented with the possibility of obtaining help. The aid will be of three types:

- Context-dependent help: This help is offered to the user (1) whenever there is some kind of problem, for example, when there are errors when identifying the user, the user will receive an explanation of the error, its causes and possible solutions. If there is a telephone connection with an operator (27) through this help, the user (1) is allowed to call the operator (27) to consult the problem.

- Survey help: During a survey you can ask for more specification for the meaning of a question, thus avoiding the possibility of misunderstandings. This help is added to each of the presentations that make up the survey.

- General help: This is a multimedia presentation in the form of a tutorial that explains the main characteristics and instructions for use of the tele-survey system.

If the survey has been carried out autonomously and with the only assisted help of the machine, the data recorded on a spreadsheet or similar data of what has been carried out will be sent by modem (5) to the central system for further processing. If it has been assisted by teleconference, the data will have already been simultaneously recorded in the remote central system.

A variant of the system is explained below. The system will send to the central system (4) the biometrics of the user associated with the characteristics of the profile and the pin or word chosen as identification, marked by the user through the touch keyboard or standard keyboard. The user will be registered after a certain time, for example in twenty-four hours, and from that moment, he will be able to fill out the surveys that the system allows, at the same time he will be charged a bonus in any of its forms for being a new user to the conduct of the first survey.

The system receives at a certain time, all the biometric identifications of the new users and the pins and will validate the fingerprints one by one avoiding malicious fraud and will compare them with the existing databases of already registered users. If no matches or fraud are found, the user will be registered with that fingerprint and that pin, if fraud or repetitions are found in the "fingerprint machine" (comparison of one fingerprint with another until a match is found), the access the next day. In this way, we obtain a validated system that prevents fraud.

When the registered user then accesses the system, he will mark his pin, the booth will send the pin and make a "pin machine" (comparison of one pin with another until a match is found) and not the fingerprint, which speeds up the procedure. Later, when the system finds the pin associated with a footprint, it sends the footprint to the cabin and in the cabin a comparison is made of one footprint with another, increasing the speed of the system. When the machine identifies that the fingerprint sent by the central is the one corresponding to the user in the cabin, access to the surveys will be allowed. The rest of the system coincides with what has already been explained.