Communication device for efficiently accessing internet resources

COMMUNICATION DEVICE FOR EFFICIENTLY ACCESSING INTERNET RESOURCES

BACKGROUND

The present invention is a system for permitting internet users to access

network resources more efficiently. Particularly, the present invention is a system

which uses unique individual identifiers, such as a phone number or facsimile

number, as the primary search keyword to access internet resources and selectively

access additional internet resources as desired by the individual. Using the system,

an individual may also perform various functions such as placing a telephone call,

or sending a fax or e-mail with a single selection (i.e., "one click"). This permits

individuals to browse or otherwise "surf the net" faster.

The internet is a global computer network that connects all different types of

operating systems and networks. It not only provides the physical backbone

connections among networks, but also establishes the standard formats that enable

different networks to communicate and share information. For example, the simple

mail transfer protocol (SMTP) is the internet e-mail standard that specifies the format

of a message, so that a user on one computer network may successfully transfer mail

to a user on another network. Without the SMTP, different networks which create

their own e-mail message formats could only be understood if the e-mail receiver

used the same type of network as the sender, or the receiving network had a plurality

of different e-mail format converters to interpret different formats of incoming e-

mail messages. Each network e-mail application which uses the internet converts mail

originating on the network from the format that the network uses into SMTP format

before transmission over the internet, and each receiving e-mail application converts

the SMTP formatted e-mail into its format. Therefore, instead of having many

different types of e-mail message converters for each different e-mail format,

different network e-mail applications can communicate using a single SMTP format

converter. The same principle also be can applied to transferring data files among

different networks.

Electronic mail is the most widely used application on the internet. Each

receiver has to have an unique internet e-mail address for proper e-mail delivery. An

internet user typically establishes an e-mail address by subscribing to an internet

service from an internet service provider (ISP) who provides the host and gateway

functions to the internet for the user. An ISP can be a university, a government

entity, a private corporation or a commercial service provider. The provider will

assign each user a unique e-mail address. No two users should have the same e-mail

address unless they desire to be treated as a single entity by the internet.

The characteristics of e-mail address syntax and structure are well defined.

An e-mail address consists of a unique combination of several terms. For example,

when John Smith signs up with America Online® (AOL) as his internet service

provider, John Smith will select a first portion of his e-mail address and will be

assigned a second portion of his e-mail address. If John Smith's e-mail address is

JSMITH@aol.com;"aol" is the abbreviation of America Online; "com" indicates that America Online is a commercial website; and JSMITH is the local part of the e-mail

address. E-mail that is sent to JSMITH@aol.com will first be forwarded to the host

AOL domain, aol.com, and then AOL will further delivery the e-mail to the mailbox

JSMITH. Although the domain part plus the local part of an e-mail address such as

JSMITH@aol.com is a much easier format to memorize than the actual 32 bit

internet mailbox address, (as dotted decimal notation 247.012.123.114), several

difficulties still exist.

First, there is no consistent rule for naming a local part of a user's mailbox.

In the AOL example, the local part is made of the first character of John' s first name

in combination with his last name, i.e., JSMITH. Once JSMITH is assigned to John

on the

aol.com domain, other John Smiths, a Joan Smith or a Joe Smith on the aol.com

domain must choose a user name other than JSMITH to distinguish between

themselves. Moreover, thousands of other ISPs use different ways to name their

users' local part. It is almost impossible to guess the local part of a user even if his

or her name is known. Non-alphanumeric characters, such as @,^Λ or % could be

used in the e-mail address. Foreign ISPs and foreign e-mail addresses can also have

non-English characters. Accordingly, it is difficult for an internet user to memorize

a plurality of different e-mail addresses.

In contrast, due to their ubiquitous use and uniformity, phone numbers and

facsimile numbers consist of a universally accepted digital number scheme which

makes the numbers easier to remember. Additionally, phone numbers and their owners are readily available through many information sources including phone

books, phone number CDs or even internet sites that provide such information.

There are several prior art systems which attempt to help an internet user

access the address of other internet users more easily. For example, U.S. Patent No.

5,826,039 to Jones discloses a universal networking directory service. A sender

provides information regarding a particular receiver, such as the person's name, city

and the state of residency, and the system retrieves the receiver's proper internet

address. The sender can then use this address to contact the receiver.

U.S. Patent No.5,850,433 to Rondeau discloses an online electronic directory

service. The service includes a dedicated server and a database similar to the paper

yellow pages, which permit a user calling the database to be connected directly to the

selected entity. A user can retrieve information from the database by entering

different search parameters . Once the user reviews the results of the particular query

and selects an entity, the server automatically places a telephone call to the select

entity.

U.S. Patent No. 5,778,367 to Wesinger, Jr., et al discloses a directory service

which lets each individual user forward information to be electronically published.

The information is automatically classified and then stored in a database. Other

users might then search the database by specifying different parameters including

name, title, phone number, facsimile number and e-mail address. The users fill in

information regarding their fields of interest and the directory service returns entries

having matching information for those fields. U.S. Patent No. 5,590,178 to Murakane discloses a service which links an e-

mail system with a telephone system. The system retrieves all e-mail corresponding

to a particular phone number to be automatically displayed when a telephone call to

the particular phone number is placed or received.

U.S. Patent No. 5.812,776 to Gifford discloses a method for a user to access

web pages by either using a telephone number or descriptive term relating to the

searching company or product. However, this system only retrieves the web page

without further processing or analysis.

Although many of these prior art systems permit a user to access websites

based upon selected information, these systems do not permit users to capture

selected portions of those websites for further processing.

SUMMARY

The present invention includes a data table that can be customizable by a user

prior to accessing the internet or after accessing the internet. The user may use a

simple keyword, such as a telephone number or facsimile number, to begin the

search of a database or multiple databases. Once the keyword has retrieved the

proper information, the system populates the table. This permits the user to easily

access the internet and retrieve e-mail addresses or other relevant information by

providing a phone number, facsimile number or other information relating to the

particular entity. Using the data table, the system displays all information related to the

keyword input as unique individual identifiers such as e-mail, phone, facsimile

number or website address. Selecting one of the unique individual identifiers

prompts the system to automatically invoke further action, such as dialing a phone

number.

Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to use a keyword, such

as a phone number or facsimile number, as the primary search keyword to retrieve

information from the internet and store the information in a format desired by the

user.

BRD2F DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is an overview of the internet.

Figure 2A is a flow diagram illustrating a regular e-mail sending procedure.

Figure 2B is a diagram illustrating the different ways to retrieve e-mail

address by the prior art and the present invention.

Figures 3A-3F are diagrams illustrating internet database access through

phone number or facsimile number search.

Figures 4A-4G are detailed screen displays of a user interface to the present

invention.

Figures 5A-5F are detailed screen displays of the system including a data

table for selectively retrieving and displaying data in accordance with the present

invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described with reference to the drawing figures

where like numerals represent like elements throughout.

Referring to Figure 1, a plurality of networks 15, 25, 35 and web pages 40

and 50 are shown connected to the internet 5. A first user 10 is a resident on a first

network 15 and a second user 20 is a resident on a second network 25. Even if the

two networks 15, 25 are different types of networks, (for example if network 15 is

an Ethernet-based Novell network and network 25 is a token ring-based Microsoft

Window NT network), utilizing the internet 5 the users 10, 20 may communicate via

e-mail and perform file transfers. This is achieved by each network 15, 25, 35

converting outgoing data into a standard format such as SMTP, and converting

incoming data from the standard format into the format for the particular network 15,

25, 35. By specifying a particular e-mail address or a designated web address, an

internet user 10, 20 may compose and transmit an e-mail and the internet 5 will

automatically route the e-mail to the particular user, or automatically route the

desired content of the web page 40, 50 to the requesting user.

The present invention is a system which can run as a module or as part of an

application utilized by an internet service provider (ISP), may interface with various

kinds of software applications or may run as a "stand alone" package. It may be

accessed using various interfacing devices such as a keyboard and mouse. For

example, in one embodiment, selecting an icon displayed on a monitor screen

activates the present invention. Referring to the flow diagram of Figure 2A, utilizing a typical e-mail

application, a sender logs onto the internet (step 105) by issuing an internet login

request with his/her computer device to the ISP. The ISP verifies the validity of the

user LD and password (step 110). If either the user LD or the password are incorrect

(step 115), no access to the internet will be granted by the ISP. If the user LD and

password are correct, the ISP connects the user to the internet 5. When the sender

is ready to send an e-mail, the sender invokes the e-mail application (step 120) and

creates a new e-mail (step 125) or replies to a received e-mail (step 130). The

sender can directly enter the receiver's e-mail address if it is known (step 140).

Otherwise, the sender can open and view an existing e-mail database (step 145),

such as an address book, to determine if it contains the receiver's e-mail address. If

the receiver' s e-mail address is found (step 160), the sender writes the message (step

165) and sends the e-mail (step 170).

If the sender does not know, and cannot find the receiver's e-mail address

from the database of e-mail addresses, then the sender has three alternatives (step

155). As shown in Figure 2B, in the first alternative the e-mail process is

abandoned (step 160). In the second alternative the sender may access an online

directory service (step 165) and retrieve the corresponding e-mail address by

specifying various keywords (step 166) and searching a database (step 167). The

keywords can be the receiver's name, address, URL or other unique identifying

information. This alternative can be invoked from a calling program whereby the

online directory service will return the proper e-mail address to the sender (step 168). The third alternative activates the present invention (step 170), whereby the

user inputs the receiver's phone number or facsimile number as the keyphrase (step

171) to search the database for the receiver's e-mail address (step 172). The system

then returns the search results to the user (step 173) to populate the data table. This

procedure will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

Referring to Figure 3A, the system of the present invention has " intelligent"

features which makes the search for an e-mail address or other unique individual

identifiers transparent to the user. For example, instead of using separate input

fields for e-mail addresses, phone numbers, facsimile numbers or website addresses,

the screen display has only a single input field 181. A user can type in an e-mail

address, website address, phone number or facsimile number into the input field,

then select the GO 182 button in Figure 3A. If the search results in more than one

match based on more than one unique keyword selected, the system may prompt the

user to narrow down or select one of the matches. For example, if the user selects

a keyword such as 1-800-CALL-NOW, the system may return with two different

results: 1) a phone number; and 2) a website. The user is prompted to choose

whether the key phrase is a website or a phone number. The system could then do

a search based on the additional information and search again. Alternatively, the

system may display all selections for the user to choose.

Referring to Figure 3B, the user can further input area code 183 or country

code 184 for this particular phone or facsimile number as an option and select the

GO button 185 to invoke the application. The present invention will search all relevant databases and retrieve relevant

information that matches the specified key phrase. For example, a user inputs John

Smith's phone number, 601-212-1125 (the dashes "-" can be created automatically

by the system), in the input field 181 then selects the GO button 182 and the system

searches for the phone number.

Referring to Figure 3C, the system retrieves relevant information from one

or multiple databases and displays all information that exists for the individual in the

customized table including John's name, John Smith's e-mail address, phone number

and facsimile number 188-195. The system retrieves this information based on the

headings of the retrieve and display table. Because John Smith doesn't have a

website address, the table indicates that the website not available 195. In one

embodiment, a user can create different display tables or modify existing ones.

Alternatively, the invention may display the information without a table.

A simplified retrieve and display table 300 is shown in Table 1. This retrieve

and display table includes fields such as name, e-mail address, mobile phone number,

home phone number, work phone number, facsimile number and home address.

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Table 1

If a user selected Table 1 as the retrieve and display table and inputs John's phone

number or facsimile number as the search keyword, the system searches through

relevant databases and retrieves John' s name, e-mail address, mobile phone number,

home phone number, work phone number, facsimile number and home address and

displays them as shown in Figure 3D. If a displayed item can lead to further action,

the system indicates such. One manner is having a circular area displayed in font of

the item which a user can select to invoke the further action. For example, referring

back to Figure 3D, John's e-mail address, mobile phone number, home phone

number, work phone number and facsimile number all have the circular area 196,

197, 198 and 199 which precedes each item. A user can decide whether he wants

to send John an e-mail, call John at his home, work or mobile phone or send a

facsimile (by downloading the file to be faxed), by selecting the corresponding

circular area. Alternatively, red or blue contrasting lettering may be used to indicate

further action is available by clicking on the same. The system interfaces with software modules that do the activity such as e-

mail, call by phone or send a facsimile, or may incorporate its own module to do

such. If a user and an individual being called both have equipment that permits

video web phone applications, the system may automatically invoke the application

in such a manner. The system permits an individual to use their e-mail address as

their phone number or fax number, thereby permitting individuals to call or fax other

individuals over the internet. The system can use an e-mail address as the keyword

to then allow someone to chose options such as "phone", "facsimile" etc. The

system can also use an individual's e-mail address to provide their corresponding

physical address, such as their home address. The present invention retrieves

information from relevant databases , either from the internet or a local computer, and

displays results according to the retrieve and display table. The system can be

expanded to include other unique identifiers such as pager numbers, cell phone

numbers, vacation home phone numbers. If an item includes more than one

selection, for example if there are multiple vacation phone numbers for the particular

user, the system can list all possible selections and provide a pull down manual for

further selections.

The present invention is flexible in permitting a user to invoke the system

even if the user is using an application, for example, a user is in the middle of

composing an e-mail. The same user can invoke the system to make a phone call or

send a facsimile to the same or other designations. Ref erring back to Figure 3C, another embodiment of the system, will invoke

other applications either to direct dial the selected phone number for the user, dial

and send a facsimile to the selected facsimile number, access the website or invoke

an e-mail application. In the case where dialing a phone number or facsimile number

is selected, if the phone number or facsimile number is shared by one organization,

the organization directory can be further retrieved if the user has permission to

access. This will be explained in greater detail below.

Referring to Figure 3E, for example, a user inputs company XYZ's main

phone number or facsimile number as the search keyword (i.e., unique individual

identifier), the system displays a retrieved list of individuals at the organization with

their individual e-mail addresses, and their title or specific information. Each name

or department may be listed and followed by a field that provides basic information

such as one's title, location, department etc. This information field may be

maintained and size altered to accommodate a person's or company's needs. For

example, one person's title may be "customer service". The user can select the

desired method of contact such as selecting an e-mail address from the member list

of the organization. Of course, the retrieved and displayed information is based on

the user requested and the restriction a data base owner/company puts on its

database. If an individual or organization desires to be "unpublished" system can

allow such.

For example, a user searches the main phone number of XYZ company

inquiring a home address and e-mail address. Even though XYZ company has all of its employees' home addresses, XYZ company only allows certain designated

employees' names and their e-mail addresses to be accessed, not their home address

unless a person requesting the information has "priority access" . Therefore, the user

can see the display of employee names and e-mail addresses, while employees' home

addresses are not available as shown in Figure 3E. Individuals or companies setting

up their database may determine different priority access levels for family, friends

or employees. The system allows this to be set up on an individual basis, family

basis or employee basis and can require for security reasons that a user accessing the

database information to submit his e-mail address or password for access. If XYZ

is a franchise or chain store, the retrieved information can include information about

other local, regional or national stores, such as location, phone numbers or website

address, as shown in Figure 3F. For example, if the user inputs one of the phone

numbers of BEST BUY electronic stores in the Philadelphia area, the system will

retrieve the address, phone number, and facsimile number of the particular BEST

BUY store and display them. The system will phrase the user's input to decide

whether the input is an e-mail, phone number, facsimile number or website address.

If the user only entered a seven digit number, phone number or facsimile number

then selected the phone or facsimile buttons, the system automatically prompts for

the area code. A user can use the area code or country code option to specify the

area where the search shall cover. The system may allow all area codes to be

selected by input wildcard "-*-" in the area code field. In an alternative embodiment, cell phones, home phones, vacation phones,

separate work phones for husbands and wives, pagers and all e-mail addresses (i.e.,

work or home) may all be included in the table as well. Any of these items, or future

"communication" devices, could be sorted under one of five or more designated

headings as follows: 1) name; 2) e-mail address; 3) website address; 4) phone

number; and 5) facsimile number. For example, if government, medical or banking

institutions chose to use an individuals' social security number as the major search

key phrase, the system would interface with their database and, using the search key

phrase, retrieve the requested information. For example, banks have various

financial information sorted by credit cards, mortgages, bank accounts etc. Medical

information can sort by entire medical history by doctor or types of injuries or

diseases/sicknesses from existing internet database organized with other key phrases.

The present invention permits a user to "surf the net" faster by providing an

improved way of accessing the internet for general uses. If a user knows one

particular information about a company, they can retrieve the company's phone

number, facsimile number, e-mail number and website address, upon entering the

particular information or description (i.e., unique individual identifier). If any

information is not available for access or does not exist there, the system responds

with either information is unavailable message or information may not exist message

to the user.

If multiple "main" phone numbers, facsimile numbers, e-mail addresses or

web addresses are retrieved, the system will first display phone number, then facsimile number, e-mail address and website address sorted in alphabetical order,

but will first display 800 numbers and ".com" website addresses if they exist, and

advise a user to select an option (down arrow) for more. If a user selects to send e-

mail, a pull down menu can provide the user with an alphabetical sort of all

individuals names with their home or work e-mail addresses along with a brief

description such as name, title and location (if there are multiple business locations).

An alternative embodiment of the invention having a graphical user interface

(GUI) is shown in Figure 4A. An icon 210 displayed on a monitor screen 205

represents the present invention and is used to invoke the system. Assuming that the

database of the present invention and/or the local database have been established, by

directing a pointer to the icon 210 and selecting the icon, the system is invoked. A

first embodiment of the invention using the GUI is shown in Figure 4B. Referring

back to Figure 4B, the database can be selected by directly entering the name of the

database, or selecting from an ISP database or a local database. By pointing and

clicking on the option pull down menu area 235, the list of databases 235 will be

displayed as shown in Figure 4G. The user can select the database from which he

or she will retrieve information. Once the user completes the selection of both the

key phrase and the database, the user can select the GO icon 240. The results of the

search based on the specified web address, e-mail address, phone number or

facsimile number will be displayed 245 as shown in Figure 4E. The user can view

the display and select the correct entity. Alternatively, the system may, transparent to the user, merge all databases into one so that the user does not have to choose a

particular database.

For example, if one database is created for a geographical area such as

Philadelphia or New York, the system may merge the data and store in a single

database that is searchable and retrievable. Optionally, the system may search all

databases without being required to copy or reclass the information. Other valuable

classifications may also be made, (such as a database for attorneys, a database for

accountants, a database for retail companies, a database for technical companies and

all other types of industries).

The system may provide the first level of information from its own database

or subdatabase, a local database and, if additional information is requested, link to

a company's database at the second level. The system may obtain the first level of

information by using web-traversing program called robots or spiders which follow

link after link within webpages across the internet. The web-traversing programs

catalog documents and store information for transmission to a parent database, where

the information is sifted, categorized and stored. After a web-traversing program has

run, the database compiled through the efforts of the robots and spiders is searched

using a database management system. Using keywords or search terms provided by

a user, our system's database locates matches.

Referring back to Figure 4B, the screen displayed 215 requires two inputs

from the user: the key phrase 220 and the database to be searched 230. The key

phrase 220 can be a phone number, a facsimile number, an e-mail address or a web address. By pointing and clicking on the pull down menu option area 225, the screen

display 226 as shown in Figure 4C is shown. The screen includes four key phrase

types; 1) e-mail address 227; 2) telephone number 228; 3) facsimile number 229; and

4) web address 230. Additional key phrase "types" may be defined by the user. For

example, "name" may be used as a fifth key phrase. The phone number and facsimile

number may be combined for search purposes.

In the case where a phone number or a facsimile number is entered, the

default designated county and area code for the phone number or the facsimile

number is the same country and area code as the individual's ISP unless the user

enters the area code and/or country code. The user may alternatively specify other

country and area codes by pointing and clicking on the pull down menu option areas

232, 233. As shown in Figure 4D, a list of countries 234 will be displayed. The

user can select the designated country from the list 234 by clicking on same, and the

corresponding country code will be incorporated into the phone number or the

facsimile number. The user can select a designated area code in the same manner

from the list 234 by clicking on same, and the corresponding area code will be

incorporated into the phone number and facsimile number.

In another embodiment of this invention, as shown in Figure 4F, the screen

display 255 further provides the user the option to select from sending e-mail 260,

sending a facsimile 262, connecting a phone call 264 or accessing a website 266.

This information can be continually displayed as the user is surfing the internet the

information automatically changes in the table as the user retrieves new webpages. Optionally, once the relating information has been retrieved from the database and

displayed on the screen, the user can select the desired one, then another display

menu will pop up. Of course, a user can search and retrieve relevant information

based on the content of the customized retrieve and display table. Nevertheless, in

this example, only e-mail, facsimile numbers, phone numbers and website addresses

are requested and displayed. The pop up menu offers four different selections in

this example. A user can either send an e-mail by selecting the e-mail option, or

sending a facsimile by selecting the facsimile selection, by connecting the phone call

to the receiver, or, at last, connecting to the worldwide website by pointing and

clicking the corresponding menu selections. If the retrieve and display is customized

to display local telephone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail numbers, etc., the system

in conjunction with the ISP and website can do such.

Referring to Figure 5A, the system utilizes key phrases 500 and a retrieve and

display table 502 in order to improve the manner in which a user accesses the

internet. The criteria for the search and the format of the information resulting

therefrom can be entirely user-defined. The search criteria are based upon the key

phrase 500. The results of the search populate the retrieve and display table 502

comprising columns 504 and rows 502. The columns 504_a._n may be defined by the

user as shown in Figure 5B.

Referring to Figure 5B, the user accesses a screen which lists both the key

phrase 500 and table headings 510. As the user selects the different table headings

510, (for example, business phone number, extension, name and title), the corresponding columns 504_a._d appear in the table 502. The user can select from the

plurality of predefined table headings 510, or may create their own headings and

customize the table 502 according to their needs. In this manner, the system permits

users to use one or more key phrases to obtain results in a systematic and organized

fashion according to their needs. This is significantly different than present search

engines which provide results in descending order of matching with the key words.

The system will be explained in greater detail with reference to the following

example.

Referring to Figure 5C, the key phrase 500 that has been selected is Cisco.

The table 502 includes the table headings 510, (shown in Figure 5B), name,

business facsimile number, homepage, e-mail address, business phone number and

stock symbol which provide the headings for the six columns 504_a__f. After the user

has input Cisco for the key phrase 500 and has created the table 502, they can select

among three options within the activity menu 520. As will be explained in further

detail, the three options are ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 522, GO THERE (i.e.,

perform function) 524, and SEARCH 526. In order to initiate the search, the cursor

528 is moved to the SEARCH button 526 and selected. The search could also be

automatic upon highlighting a specific cell and depressing the "return" button on the

keyboard or double-clicking the mouse on the specific cell. Referring to Figure 5D,

the search results populate the cells in the first row 508_a. As shown, a search is

performed for the information that most closely matches the key phrase and also the

particular columns 504_a__f. In the embodiment that is shown, the system returns only the most relevant search results and places them in the cells in a single row 508_a.

Optionally, if additional information is available, such as multiple responses to the

particular query, the ADDITIONAL LNFORMATION button 522 is highlighted. If

the user desires additional information regarding all columns 504_a__f, the cursor 528

is moved to the ADDITIONAL INFORMATION button 522 and selected. This

results in the table 502 shown in Figure 5E. In this table 502, the cells in additional

rows 508_b._d are populated if additional information for the particular column 504_a._f

is available. As shown in Figure 5E, additional information was available for this

business facsimile number, e-mail address and business phone number column 504_b,

504_d, 504_e. In this manner, a user can more easily get specific information regarding

the departments or personnel that they wish to contact.

Referring back to Figure 5D, the system indicates that additional information

is available for selected fields by providing "down arrow" selection buttons 550_a._d.

In this manner, if a user wants additional information only regarding a specific

column, the user selects the down arrow 550_a._d associated with that column. For

example, if the user wants more information regarding the e-mail addresses 504_d,

they select the down arrow 550_c. Only the additional information associated with

that column 504_d will be presented. However, if the user selected down arrow 550_a

for more information regarding Cisco Systems, this also results in the table 502

shown in Figure 5E. Optionally, the user can select a particular cell, such as cell

552, and double-click on it to perform the particular function, which in this case is

sending an e-mail. The user may also perform a subsearch, which uses the results of the earlier

searches to further refine the search. For example, referring again to Figure 5E,

once all of the information for a particular key phrase has been obtained, the user

may wish to further refine the results of their search. If the user desires to get more

information regarding the customer service department's facsimile number, they

move the cursor to the customer service cell 531 in column 504_b in row 508_d. If the

user desires more information regarding the customer service department, they can

select cell 530 which becomes highlighted as shown, the cursor 528 is moved to the

SEARCH button 526. As shown, the SEARCH button 526 has changed to indicate

that the system is undertaking a further search using a new selected key phrase. The

KEY PHRASE FURTHER SEARCH button 526 now includes the further key

phrase "customer service". Accordingly, the KEY PHRASE FURTHER SEARCH

button 526 is selected which results in the table shown in Figure 5F. Since the key

phrase is now customer service, the system populates the table 502 with the results

of the that key word search. As shown in Figure 5F, the user can also modify the

table 502 before or after they depress the KEY PHRASE FURTHER SEARCH

button 526. In the example shown in Figures 5E and 5F, the user deleted column

504_f including stock symbol and added the column 504_h including the extension

number, and deleted column 504_c for the homepage and added column 504_; with the

title of the person. Accordingly, a table shown in Figure 5F shows all of the

information that user believes is relevant for their search on the personnel within the

customer service department of Cisco. As understood by those of skill in the art, the system may display a single row

508 at a time, (for example, row 508_a shown in Figure 5E), and provide up and down

arrows to scroll through all of the choices. Alternatively, only the cells that are

populated are returned to the user. If the user would like to select a particular person

to speak to, such as Kate Skubin, the group director of customer service, the user can

move the cursor 528 to column 504_h which lists the extension numbers for all of the

employees. The user can then select the cell in first row 502_a of that column which

lists the extension number for Ms. Skubin. Once this cell 542 has been highlighted,

the cursor is then moved down to the GO THERE button 524. The GO THERE

button 524 will change as shown in Figure 5F to include the words "click to call".

It should be noted that the selection of a particular cell for an extension will dial that

extension if the user is on the same company phone system. Otherwise, the user

would select a column heading such as direct inward dial (DLD) number. This

permits customers and other people "outside" the company's phone system to contact

the personnel directly. It should be noted that the GO THERE button 524 will

change depending on the action to be taken. For example, when the GO THERE

button 524 is selected, the system places a call directly with Ms. Skubin. In the same

manner, Ms. Skubin may be e-mailed or faxed depending upon the cell which is

selected.

Although the present invention is designed to search and retrieve information

over the internet, one embodiment of the invention builds a local database for search

and retrieval using the standard selection heading shown in Figure 5B. As explained earlier, web crawlers, robots or spiders are used to populate the main level

of the database. The main level will be referred to hereinafter as "level 1 ". This can

be graphically represented by 508_a in Figure 5D. For example, a webcrawler

searching the web and accessing webpages may be able to find a company's name,

e-mail address, home page and phone number. The system may access other

unrelated databases, such as an on-line financial database, to ascertain other

information regarding the company, such as the company's stock symbol.

Alternatively, the data may be selectively input by companies that wish to

participate and utilize the database services. For example, the data may be input

manually by a company's employee, subcontractors and agents, and forwarded

enmasse to a central website maintained for the purposes of creating a master

database. The information in the database can then be available to all users to

download to their local database. If a company participates in this manner, it may

select from among the table headings in Figure 5B and can create new headings. If

standard table headings such as shown in Figure 5B are not used, the headings

created by a particular company must be correlated with the standard headings or

new standard headings created to accommodate the entries by that company.

Accordingly, the system provides the option of providing users with blank tables and

selecting from among standardized headings, or permitting users to create their own

headings.

For example, if a company wanted to have "president's office" on the first

level with a phone number, fax number and e-mail address, they can customize the table headings prior to entering the information. The user can select "create

customized heading" as shown in the table headings 510 of Figure 5B.

Alternatively, when a user is searching the information from a particular company,

the table headings may note which field, if any, were created by the actual company.

Further, when searching, a user can query the system to provide all applicable table

headings available for a particular keyword (i.e., person or company).

When the system provides a "blank table" for the user to utilize, the system

provides a level 1 table with a standard heading, (i.e., a table with multiple columns

and one row). The table may then be modified and further customized as desired.

Down arrows may be used to add subsequent levels, (i.e., additional rows). The

system may only permit one row for level 1 and multiple rows of information for

subsequent levels. These rows may correspond to a division, department or other

organizational structure pertaining to the company.

Subsequent levels for a company will be for smaller and smaller business

units until the names of individual personnel populate the rows. Along with the

individual names, the user also creates each individual's title. Basically, the system

may permit users to switch from column table headings to row table headings and

vice versa. Column table headings 510 are shown in Figure 5B. Row table

headings 508_a._d are shown in Figure 5E. Upon populating a database, the flexibility

between the column table headings 510 and the row table headings 508_a._d permits

users to enter information into the blank table by either the row or the column,

whichever is more convenient for the user. If a user querying the system had the proper access, the user may have the system provide all column headings or row

headings available for a particular keyword (i.e., company) to allow the user to

quickly retrieve or process the information desired.

The centralized database, for example a database accessible via a website, can

be maintained by a centralized database management staff or by users with proper

passwords. Individual companies may create and maintain their own local database,

but permit the database to be searched, via a link to the website. If the centralized

database is linked in such a manner to an individual company's database, the system

automatically searches the company's database when users query for information

from this database. If a company maintains their own database linked to the

centralized database, the centralized database management staff does not have the

ability to change the actual data.

When a user wants to input information into the centralized database, they

must be provided with access to the database. The system may be accessed directly

by the user or by following a link to the website. For example, one website may

have the URL ReachPeople.com. The name Reach People™ is a trademark of the

applicant.

If the user is entering data into the centralized database for the first time, the

user is prompted to provide specific information, such as filling in a blank table. In

order to ensure the quality and traceability of the information, a method is provided

to validate the information. In one embodiment, the user's ISP authenticates the user

and confirms the user's e-mail address. In another embodiment, upon entering data, the user is prompted for a method of contact that the user prefers. The user is also

prompted for a user name and password. For example, if the user desires to be

contacted by e-mail, phone or facsimile, they enter such a preference. Once the user

completes the entering of data, the system generates a transaction number and

associates that transaction number with each cell of data that the user has entered.

The system then sends the transaction number to the user via the particular method

of contact chosen by the user. For example, if the user chose to be contacted by e-

mail, the system e-mails the transaction number to the user. This completes the input

procedure. However, information input into the system is unavailable to other users

until the information is validated.

In order to validate the information, the user must log onto the system with

their username and password and input the transaction number. All of the

information associated with that transaction number will be "released" to all of the

users using the centralized database. If the user does not validate the information by

providing the transaction number after a predetermined period of time, (which is set

by the centralized database management staff), all of the data associated with the

particular transaction number is purged from the system.

The present invention also provides a method for changing information in the

centralized database. The user enters their username and password, and inputs the

transaction number. Should the user not provide the correct transaction number and

password, the user cannot gain access to making changes. The user will be able to

edit all data associated with the transaction number. The system will track and store all data, associated transaction numbers and times, dates and usernames that changed

the data. This ensures direct accountability for all data changes. After the user edits

the data, the user clicks on "update".

In an alternative embodiment, the system may permit information to be

retrieved from, or sent from, anyone without placing any restriction on the user. In

this embodiment, a user may become an information supplier and enter unreliable

information into the system through the internet.

The system has the ability to run various reports and delete selected

information at any time as measures to verify the accuracy of supplied information.

The system can automatically review it's data files for inconsistency. The system can

automatically use available communication means to contact the information supplier

about the inconsistency of the information and request the information supplier

confirm the accuracy of the supplied information. For example, if an individual is

contacted by an e-mail for the confirmation, the user can respond by e-mail. If the

user receives a phone call for confirmation, the system may have an automatic voice

system to explain the purpose of the phone call and ask for confirmation on

questioned information regarding information in each field in the table. The

information supplier can either respond by voice input or manual selection through

the telephone button set to acknowledge, correct, incorrect or change. Optionally,

before the system makes changes, the system can then block modification to how it

received the new information as well as how it receive the original information.

When the blocked information is further verified, the system will release such information for modification. The system also has the ability to self-correct the

content of its database. For example, the system can update its existing phone

numbers to a new phone number in its database if a call to the original phone is

placed and the operator advises that there is a new phone number. If there is no

forwarding phone number, the system may attempt to re- verify the information by

attempting to contact the individual by using one or all of the communication means

(i.e., e-mail, fax etc.). If the system makes contact, the system allows the incorrect

information to be modified.

In an alternative embodiment, each user can build their own database about

themselves and provide a link to the centralized database. The system will search the

centralized database for desired information and also any local databases which are

linked in such a manner. Those of skill in the art should realize that there are many

current methods for linking databases across the internet, and the manner of linking

the databases is not central to the present invention. A local database may remain

only in the user's local computer system. Alternatively, the database may be

maintained at the user's internet service provider but may only be accessible when

the user is online. A user may set certain restrictions and block selected information,

such as credit card information from further modifications. Generally, it can specify

certain mandatory basic information that a user has to supply under certain

circumstances. The basic information such as the user's name, address, telephone

number, "ship to" address (if different then the user's address), credit card number, e-mail address, zip code for mailing purposes, personal profile such as likes, dislikes,

age, nicknames, sports, etc.

For example, for online shopping, a user must provide credit card information

upon placing an order. In essence, the system can use an established standard format

to overlay the data file information into the various fields of a particular website,

upon an icon being selected (for example, when a user purchases something). The

website may display all information automatically filled in and/or may only prompt

the fields that did not match the data file fields, consequently remaining "blank",

allowing the user to fill in manually. The term "table" as used in the present

invention represents array of key phrases, since each cell in a table may form the

basis of a further search.

In an alternative embodiment, the retrieve and display table may continually

appear or be requested by the user to appear when the user is "surfing the web".

Once the user invokes the software, the content of the retrieve and display table will

be automatically retrieved and updated accordingly. If the user wanted to e-mail,

phone or facsimile, the user would simply click the corresponding icon to do so.

It should be noted that a "wildcard" can be used as part of searching phone

numbers or facsimile numbers. For example, telephone number 215-756-32** can

be used as keyword to search all the phone numbers or facsimile numbers between

215-756-3200 to 215-756-3299. Or if 215-756-3*45 is used for the keyword, then

the system will retrieve the 10 phone number's or facsimile number's related to 3045,

3145, 3245, ...,3945. Although the input devices such as keyboard and mouse are used in this

specification for explanation purpose, other input methods or devices such as voice

input device or touch screen device can also be used with the present invention.

The present invention can be used as the base for a future internet search

engine or directory. A user, by providing phone numbers or facsimile numbers can

quickly access all information on the internet and retrieve the information as he

specified. Therefore, a user can surf the internet more efficiently.

Although the invention has been described in part by making detailed

reference to the preferred embodiment, such detail is intended to be instructive rather

than restrictive. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many variations

may be made in the structure and mode of operation without departing from the spirit

and scope of the invention as disclosed in the teachings herein.