WO2005111928A2

WO2005111928A2 - System and method for providing business services to a user of a communication device

Info

Publication number: WO2005111928A2
Application number: PCT/IL2005/000501
Authority: WO
Inventors: Meir Shavit
Original assignee: Meir Shavit
Priority date: 2004-05-13
Filing date: 2005-05-11
Publication date: 2005-11-24
Also published as: WO2005111928A3; IL161975A0; WO2005111928A8

Abstract

A service system and a method for providing an array of business services to a user of a communication device are provided. The service system includes a Telephony database storing a list of records each comprising at least a telephone number of the corresponding communication device. The service system also includes a Caller identification unit and a Server coupled to Telephony database and the Caller identification unit. The Caller identification unit is configured to determine the telephone number of the user placing a call to the service system. The Server allocates at least one Administrative page, e.g., a Web page, for each telephone number of the list of records. The Administrative pages are configured to offer the business services. The method includes identifying the user placing a call to the service system for linking to the Administrative page and receiving the business services therefrom; routing the identified user to his Administrative page; and providing the business services to the user.

Description

System and method for providing business services to a user of a communication device

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a system and method for providing services to users of a communication network, and more particularly to a system and method for providing business services to telephone users.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The telephone is among the most widely used communication equipment in the world. At first, telephones were merely convenient tools to allow people to communicate while physically separated. More recently, many people and organizations use telephones to market products and services, to provide technical support for consumer products, to allow callers to access their own financial data, and so forth. Thus, the telephones are becoming one of the major business and marketing tools. Various telephone systems (wire-line and wireless) are known in the art. Moreover, the communication equipment, such as Internet, has recently received the fastest growing interest in the world. The use of various internet applications such as internet navigation through the World Wide Web (WWW), online chat rooms, video conferencing and electronic mail, is widespread and popular as it allows internet users to view and distribute information and data for the purpose of business transactions, communication, research, entertainment and the like. With the dramatic growth of Internet usage, many businesses have developed websites to provide potential and existing customers with infoπnation about their business, products or services. Various search engines are developed to help consumers seeking a required product and/or service. Despite the great progress in this field, the existing search engines are far from being perfect, and require sometimes tedious searches through large pluralities of entries often referring to web sites that are useless and/or even unrelated to the desired subject. On the other hand, many vendors advertise their products and services over the Internet and solicit orders from Internet users for these wares. However, with the huge growth in the number of websites on the Internet, competition for business is becoming more intense. A business with a simple and effective method for bringing a consumer to its website will have a competitive advantage over other businesses that lack such methods. Various databases are known in the art which include information about potential customers and users of the products and services provided via the telephone and Internet. For example, a telephone book is a telephony database that contains a list of records, each of which includes at least three fields associated with a telephone user: name, address and telephone number. Thus, each user of a telephone device bears an ID associated with a certain telephone number. A caller identification service is known and widely used in the art. When the user of the telephone device places a telephone call, the caller identification or "Caller ID" allows a party receiving the phone call to know who is calling before answering the phone. A caller's number and/or name can be displayed either on the receiving phone (if this phone has this feature) or on a display unit that can be added separately. The number and/or name can appear on the display unit or on the receiving phone after the first ring. As the caller, this service lets him identify himself to the person he is calling. Various systems are known in the art that allow a provider of a service that is delivered through a phone call to charge a customer for the cost of the service as well as the cost of the call. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,003,584 to Banyacar describes a system that bills a calling party for the cost of a call and the cost of the service through either the automatic number identification (ANI) indicating the call originating number or a credit card number provided by the calling party. These value-added services are designed for mass calling of a service provider's number where each calling party is billed for the cost of the call and the cost of the service. Because the customer initiates the call, the customer provides authorization for the cost of the call and cost of the service at the beginning of the call. For such a service, the telephone company directly bills the customer for the cost of the call and the cost of the service. The telephone company then reimburses the service provider for the value of the service provided to the customer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION There is, accordingly, a need in the art to provide a novel, user-friendly, technique, which enables a user of a communication device, such as regular or mobile telephone, to receive business services which are extended over the regular services provided by telephone providers. There is a further need for business providers to be able to offer the users of a communication network an additional set of services. The present invention satisfies the aforementioned need and realizes a service system for providing an array of business services to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network. The service system includes a Telephony database storing a list of records each comprising at least a telephone number of the corresponding communication device. The service system further includes a Caller identification unit and a Server coupled to Telephony database and the Caller identification unit. The Caller identification unit is configured to determine the telephone number of the user placing a call to the service system. According to an embodiment of the invention, the Server allocates at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of the list of records. An example of the Administrative page includes, but is not limited to a Web page. The Administrative pages are configured to offer the business services. The Server is adapted (i) to use information from the Caller identification unit to determine an identity of the user by collating a number provided by the Caller identification unit with the number stored in the Telephony database, and (ii) to route the user to his Administrative page for providing the business services. Examples of the communication device include, but are not limited to regular wire-line telephone, regular cordless telephone, mobile telephone, PC with a modem, laptop computer with a telephony card, Personal Digital Assistance device. Examples of the telecommunication network include, but are not limited to, public switched telephone network (PSTN), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL), local area network (LAN) and cellular network. The present invention also satisfies the aforementioned need and realizes a method for providing business services by a service system to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network. According to an embodiment of the invention, the method includes providing a Telephony database storing a list of records comprising at least a telephone number of each communication device. The method also includes allocating at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of the list of records. The Administrative pages are configured to offer the business services to the users. The method also includes an identification of the user when he places a call to the service system by using his communication device for linking to his

Administrative page and receiving business services. The service system routes the identified user to his Administrative page which can provides the business service to the user upon his request. According to the method, the identifying of the user includes providing a Caller identification unit configured to determine the telephone number of the user placing a call to the service system, and deterniining an identity of the user by collating a number provided by the Caller identification unit with the number stored in the Telephony database. In order to receive a business service, a user of a communication device can activate one or more Administrative pages allocated by the service system to a telephone number of the user's communication device. When desired, the user can request one or more business services provided by the service system from the

Administrative pages by using his communication device. According to an embodiment of the invention, the activating of the

Administrative pages includes calling to a service system for obtaining a password, and submitting the password by using the communication device. According to one example, the password can be submitted by using a network browser. According to another example the password can be submitted by speaking the password. The present invention further concerns services which the service system provides to its users. Examples of the business services provided by the service system of the present invention include, but are not limited to, operating a private e- mail service; preparing and publishing a Resume for the user; preparing and publishing ads and advertisements; preparing a business card for the user; providing a car sale and purchase service; informing about a car theft; running and providing a dating service; running and providing a chat service; running and providing a televoting service. Thus, in accordance with one broad aspect, the present invention provides a service system for providing at least one business service to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the system comprising: a Telephony database storing a list of records comprising at least a telephone number of each communication device; a Caller identification unit configured to determine the telephone number of the user placing a call to said service system; and a Server coupled to said Telephony database and said Caller identification unit, and allocating at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of said list of records, said at least one Administrative page being configured to offer said at least one business service, said Server being adapted (i) to use information from the Caller identification unit to determine an identity of the user by collating a number provided by the Caller identification unit with the number stored in the Telephony database, and (ii) to route the user to his Administrative page for providing said at least one business service. In accordance with another broad aspect, the present invention provides a method for providing at least one business service by a service system to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the method comprising the following steps carried out by the service system: (a) providing a Telephony database storing a list of records comprising at least a telephone number of each communication device; (b) allocating at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of said list of records, said Administrative page being configured to offer said at least one business service to the user; (c) identifying said user placing a call to the service system for linking to said Administrative page and receiving said at least one business service therefrom; (d) routing the identified user to his Administrative page; and (e) providing said at least one business service to the user. In accordance with still a broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing at least one business service by a service system to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the method comprising the following steps carried out by the user: (a) activating at least one Administrative page allocated by said service system to a telephone number of the user's communication device; (b) requesting at least one business service provided by said service system from said at least one Administrative page by using said communication device. In accordance with yet a further broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for providing at least one business service by a service system to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the method comprising the following steps carried out by the service system: (a) storing a list of records comprising at least a telephone number of each communication device in a Telephony database; (b) allocating at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of said list of records, said Administrative page being configured to offer said at least one business service to the user; (c) identifying said user placing a call to the service system for linking to said Administrative page and receiving said at least one business service therefrom; (d) routing the identified user to his Administrative page; and (e) providing said at least one business service to the user. In accordance with still a further broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for providing at least one business service by a service system to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the computer program product comprising: (a) computer readable program code for causing the computer to store a list of records comprising at least a telephone number of each communication device in a Telephony database; (b) computer readable program code for causing the computer to allocate at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of said list of records, said Administrative page being configured to offer said at least one business service to the user; (c) computer readable program code for causing the computer to identify said user placing a call to the service system for linking to said Administrative page and receiving said at least one business service therefrom; (d) computer readable program code for causing the computer to rout the identified user to his Administrative page; and (e) computer readable program code for causing the computer to provide said at least one business service to the user. There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows hereinafter may be better understood. Additional details and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description, and in part will be appreciated from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of non- limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a connectivity architecture of the communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The principles and operation of the method and system according to the present invention may be better understood with reference to the drawing and the accompanying description. It is understood that this drawing is given for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to be limiting. Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown a generalized schematic illustration of a communication network architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention. It should be. noted that the blocks in Fig. 1 are intended as functional entities only, such that the functional relationships between the entities are shown, rather than any physical connections and/or physical relationships. The communication network includes a service system 11 for providing business services to users 12 of a communication device 120. The communication device 120 has an assigned telephone number and adapted to communicate with the system 11 via a communication line 13 of a telecommunication network. It should be appreciated that the present invention is not intended to be restricted to any particular telecommunication network 13 establishing a link between the user 12 and the service system 11. Examples of the communication line 13 include various wire-line networks, such as various analog and digital local area networks (LAN), public switched telephone network (PSTN), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), various Digital Subscriber Lines (xDSL, where x is a variable, when the discussion is about DSL in general), such as: Asymmetric DSL (ADSL), High bit-rate DSL (HDSL), ISDN DSL (ISDL); Rate Adaptive DSL (RADSL), Symmetric DSL (SDSL), Very high speed DSL (VDSL), Voice-over DSL (VoDSL), etc. Moreover, the communication line 13 can also be provided by a wireless network (e.g., cellular network), adapted to connect various mobile communication devices (e.g., cellular phones) to the system 11. Examples of the communication device 120 include, but are not limited to regular (plain) wire-line telephone, regular cordless telephone, mobile telephone, PC with a modem, laptop computer with a wireline or wireless telephony card, Personal Digital Assistance (PDA) device, etc. According to an embodiment of the invention, the service system 11 includes a Server 110 running a Web portal. The service system 11 also includes a Telephony database 111 storing a telephone book. The telephone book is prepared and provided by a telephone service provider 14. The Telephony database 111 is coupled to Server 110 and contains a list of records. Each record can include one or more fields associated with the telephone user 12. Examples of the fields include, but are not limited to, user name, user address and user telephone number. Thus, according to this embodiment of the invention, an ID associated with the telephone number of his communication device 120 is assigned to each user 12. The Server 110 provides Administrative pages 113 (e.g., Web pages) at its Web portal, designed for offering a broad array of resources and services to users 12. For example, at least one Administrative page can be allocated to each user, i.e., to each record of the Telephony database 111. It should be understood that the Administrative page can be allocated to each record of the Telephony database 111 irrespectively of whether the user is currently interested or not to use the services provided by the Web page. Accordingly, when the user 12 will be interested to activate his Administrative page, he can receive a password from the Server 110 for admittance to its resources and services. In order to receive a password, according to one embodiment of the invention, the user, utilizing a PC, can enter the telephone number of his communication device in a box displayed on his Administrative Web page, and then submit this number to the Server 110. The Server is adapted to use information submitted by the user 12 and collate the provided telephone number with that stored in the Telephony database 111. If this telephone number is present in the Telephony database 111, the Server 110 provides the user 12 with the password that is required for activation his Administrative Web page. The password can be provided in any known manner. For example, the password can be transferred as an SMS message to his communication device. According to another embodiment of the invention, in order to receive a password the user can place a phone call by using one of his communication devices (e.g., a mobile telephone) by dialing a predetermined number advised by the Server 110. The service system 11 includes a Caller identification unit 114 coupled to the Server 110 and configured to determine the telephone number of the user placing a call to the service system 11. The Server is adapted to use information from the Caller identification unit 114 to determine an identity of the user 12 by collating a number provided by the Caller identification unit 114 with that stored in the Telephony database 111. If the calling number is present in the Telephony database 111, the Server 110 provides the user 12 with the password that is required for activation his A(Inτinistrative.page. The password can be provided in any known manner. For instance, the password can be played by voice, it can be indicated on the telephone's display, and/or it can be transferred as an SMS message. On the other hand, when the number is alien, i.e., is not present in the Telephony database 111 (this case can, for example, be when the user operates a 5 communication device of a foreign telephone provider), the number can be recorded in the Telephony database 111. Moreover, the user can receive an invitation to provide his name and address for creating a new record in the Telephony database 111. After the registration, the Server 110 creates the corresponding Administrative page and provides this new user with a password for l o activation of the Administrative page created thereby. Various implementations of the Caller identification unit 114 are known in the art. Examples of the implementation include, but are not limited to, standard Caller ID and/or Calling Number delivery (CND) message receivers, and the like. It should be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the practical

15 realization of the service system 11 is. not bound to any particular system configuration. Thus, according to one embodiment, the Telephony database 111, Caller identification unit 114 and Server 110 are realized on several computers. According to another embodiment, the Telephony database 111, Caller identification unit 114 and Server 110 are all realized on one computer. 0 It should be noted that although the Caller identification unit 114 in Fig. 1 is shown as a part of the service system 11, the concept of the invention can also be realized when a Caller identification unit (not shown) of the telephone service provider 14 is used for identification of the calling party. When desired, the user can activate and receive an access to his Web page 5 by submitting the password received from the Server 110 with the help of a network browser. For example, a WWW browser can be employed for activating his Administrative Web page, when the user uses a PC computer or laptop. Accordingly, the system 11 can prompt the user 12 to type the password and press the "enter" key, when the user utilizes a PC computer. Likewise, when the user 0 activates his Administrative page by means of a mobile telephone, a corresponding telephone browser can be operated. In such a case, the password can be entered with keystrokes on the keypad of the telephone device. Alternatively, the user may speak the password, which will be recognized by voice recognition techniques (not shown) arranged in this case in the system 11. All these techniques are known per se, and therefore their implementation will not be expounded herebelow. It should be appreciated that the present invention and the concept of providing a user of a communication device with a set of various business services is not bound to any particular graphical design of the interface allowing the user to browse his Administrative page provided by the service system 11. According to the invention, an array of various business services can be provided for the user 12 from the Administrative page 113 after its activation. Some of the business services can be provided for a certain cost, while other services can be free of charge. In order to perform payment for the business services, the user may establish a line of credit or deposit funds with the service system 11. Likewise, the service system 11 can establish an agreement with the telephone service provider 14 that the costs of the business services provided by the service system 11 would be included in the telephone bill. In this case, the telephone company first receives the payment for the business services and then reimburses the service system 11 for the value of these business services provided to the user 12. In operation, for initialization a working session on his Administrative Web page, the user 12 is provided with a graphical interface window displayed on a screen of the user's computer when he browses the portal site. The graphical interface window includes a suitable input box for entering input data, such as the user's name and/or his phone number. After submitting this input data, the Server 110 routes the user to his Administrative Web page. It should be understood that generally any person browsing the Internet can monitor me Administrative Web pages of the users 12. In operation, this person can submit, for example, a desired phone number, and thereby open the Web page of the corresponding user. Therefore, some of the business services provided by the service system 11 may require a special authorization. For operating these services the user 12 can be required to enter a password in a special box designed in the graphical interface window. It should be appreciated that the present invention and the concept of providing a user with his Administrative Web page is not bound to any particular graphical design of the interface window displaying a request to open the Web page. Hence, when required, the interface window may further include such elements as a "Cancel" and "Help" buttons. The purpose of these elements is known er se, and therefore will not be expounded hereinbelow. It should be understood that when required, the system 11 can further include one or more additional databases 115 storing the data obtained from different commercial and/or public institutions 15 for providing additional business services. Some specific examples of the additional databases 115 will be described hereinbelow.

Examples

The essence of the present invention can be better understood from the following non-limiting examples of the services provided by the service system 11. These examples are intended to illustrate the present invention and to teach a person of the art how to make and use the invention. It should be understood that these examples are not intended to limit the scope of the invention or its protection in any way. Example 1 The service system 11 can provide a user-friendly interface on the Administrative Web page for operating a private e-mail service. According to one embodiment of the invention, the user's telephone number can be used in the name field of the e-mail address. For instance, for the telephone number 123456, the email address can be as follows: 123456@Webportal. According to another embodiment of the invention, any person browsing the Internet can open an Administrative Web page of a certain user 12, as described above, and leave a message in a special guest mail box provided by the user- friendly interface.

Example 2 The service system 11 can provide a user-friendly interface on the Administrative Web page for preparing a Resume (Cwricular Vitae) for the user, and then publishing this Resume on his page. For preparing a resume, the user is provided on the Administrative Web page with a form having empty fields which have to be filled in by the user to formulate his working profile. When required, several resumes can be prepared and published on the page. Each resume may contain specific information directed to a specific employer. When required, the resume can be delivered to the corresponding employer as an email by using the employer's phone number. The resumes, corresponding to different users can also be stored in a database (not shown in Fig. 1) and retrieved by a party interested in these data. An example of the interested party includes, but is not limited to, employers seeking for a potential worker, businessmen seeking for partners, etc. Thus, for the interested party, the service system 11 can provide a user- friendly interface on the Administrative Web page for seeking a subject of his interest. For example, a list of different professions can be displayed to the interested party. When the employer clicks on a certain profession he is presented with a list of names of other users 12 looking for a job. The employer can click on a certain name and be provided with the corresponding Resume. When required, the interested party can be linked to the user posting his resume by clicking, for example, on a special prompt displayed to the employer. The link can, for example, be established via a phone call originated from the employer's computer equipped with the corresponding tools or via the private e-mail service of the Example 1. Moreover, the service system 11 can provide a user-friendly interface on the Administrative Web page for a vocal recording of a Resume by the user, and then allowing it to playback to the interested party. Example 3 The service system 11 can provide a user-friendly interface on the Administrative Web page for preparing ads and/or advertisements and publishing them on the page. When required, the ads and advertisements can be published with a predetermined periodicity and periodically updated. The advertisements as well as other data corresponding to different users can be stored in a certain database (not shown in Fig. 1) and retrieved by a party interested in these data. Examples of the interested party includes, but is not limited to, employees looking for a job, businessmen seeking for dealings, etc. When required, the interested party can be linked to the user posting the ad and/or advertisement by clicking on the corresponding prompt. The link can, for example be, established, via a phone call originated from the user's computer equipped with the corresponding tools or via the private e-mail service of the Example 1.

Example 4 The service system 11 can provide a user-friendly interface on the

Administrative Web page for preparing a business card for the user. Owing to fact that number of the users of the service system 11 can be large, the number of users placing the order of this service can also be large. Thus, a substantial price reduction can be provided for the users.

Example 5 The service system 11 can provide a car sale and purchase service. Turning back to Fig. 1, the service system 11 further includes a Motor Vehicles database,

(which is an example of the additional database 115) obtained from a Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) or any other corresponding institution dealing with car's registration. When a car is not registered at the Motor Vehicles database, the user can submit information about his car to the database by using his communication device. The Motor Vehicles database contains a list of records with information about automobile ownership. For example, the Motor Vehicles database may, for example, include the following data related to a car: car's registration number; brand of the car; and production year of the car; name of the owner; owner's phone number. When the owner wishes to place his car for sale, he can dial a predetermined number advised by the service system 11 by using his communication device, e.g., a mobile telephone or a wireline telephone equipped with a display and a corresponding telephone browser. The telephone call will be relayed to the Caller identification unit 114 which is configured to identify the user 12 of the telephone device. The service system 11 will use the information from the Caller identification unit 114 to associate the caller with the car, and place the car for sale thereby presenting the information about the car to a buyer, as will be described herebelow. According to one embodiment of the invention, the price of the car can be fixed to a resale price for such a car, for example, taken from the Blue Book value. According to another embodiment of the invention, the price of the car posted for the sale can be inquired from the user (i.e., owner of the car) by the service system 11. The user 12 can submit the value of the price he desires to receive for the car in any known manner, e.g., with keystrokes on the keypad of his telephone. At the buyer end, when the user 12 is interested to purchase a car he can use the car sale/purchase service provided by the service system 11 by establishing a connection to the system 11 by using his communication device (e.g., telephone). The user's Administrative page can provide an interface allowing the buyer (i) to select a car that he desires to get, and (ii) to conduct negotiations with the seller (note that the buyer and seller are both the users of the service system 11). According to an embodiment of the invention, the buyer is provided with a list of car brands, from which he can select the make of a car. Thereafter, the buyer can be provided with a list of the car production year, from which he can select the year. In the next step, the buyer can be provided with a list of the prices, from which the user can select the price of his interest. Then, the buyer can be presented with the name of the owner of this car with whom the buyer can establish a telephone link via a phone call originated from the buyer's telephone device. Due to the fact that the telephone numbers of the seller and buyer are stored in the Motor Vehicles database, in order to place the phone call and establish the link in the case when the name is selected, the buyer needs to press only "one-button" (e.g., "enter key"). The buyer does not need to dial any full telephone number that comprises several digits. It should be understood that although employing of a mobile telephone devices was described in the present example for the car sale/purchase service, the invention can also be practiced mutatis mutandis with other communication devices, e.g., a PC, a Personal Digital Assistance (PDA) device, etc.

Example 6 It should be understood that various other services in connection with a car can be provided to the user 12. For example, the owner of the car can inform the corresponding institution (e.g., Police) that his car was stolen. When required, the user can dial a predetermined number advised by the service system 11 by using his communication device, e.g., a mobile or wireline telephone. The telephone call will be relayed to the Caller identification unit 114 which is configured to identify the user 12 of the telephone device. The service system 11 will use the information from the Caller identification unit 114 to associate the caller with the corresponding car, and inform the Police and/or any other appropriate Institution (e.g., automobile insurance agency) about the car theft.

Example 7 The service system 11 can run a dating service. In such a case, the service system 11 can provide a user-friendly interface on the Administrative Web page for creating a user profile appropriate for the dating service. The selection of the party of interest and communication between the users participating in the dating service can be carried out mutatis mutandis as described above in Examples 2 and 3. Example 8 The service system 11 can offer televoting service to the users 12. According to this example of the invention, for participating in the vote, the user can call a predetermined number advised by the service system 11 by using his communication device, e.g., a mobile or wireline telephone. After establishing a link with the service system 11, the user can be advised to press one key, if the user wishes to vote in support of the issue under the vote/election or to press another key, if the user wishes to vote against it. The service system 11 will use the information from the Caller identification unit 114 to identify the user and to relay his opinion to the corresponding institution responsible for the vote/election.

Example 9 The service system 11 can provide a user-friendly interface on the service Web page for operating a chat service. According to this example, when a user initiates his Web page, he can be advised with a list of other users also being at this moment on-line. Such a list can, for example, include the user's name and/or his phone number. When desired, a user can be presented anonymously by his alias. A chat session can be initiated, for example, by clicking on the other user's name or telephone number. As such, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains, can appreciate that while the present invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, the concept upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other systems, services and processes for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. In the process claims that follow, alphabetic characters used to designate claim steps are provided for convenience only and do not imply any particular order of performing the steps. It will also be understood that the system according to the invention may be a suitably programmed computer system. Likewise, the invention contemplates a computer program being readable by a computer for executing the method of the invention. The invention further contemplates a machine-readable memory tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for executing the method of the invention. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. It is important, therefore, that the scope of the invention is not construed as being limited by the illustrative embodiments and examples set forth herein. Other variations are possible within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A service system for providing at least one business service to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the system comprising: a Telephony database storing a list of records comprising at least a telephone number of each communication device; a Caller identification unit configured to determine the telephone number of the user placing a call to said service system; and an Server coupled to said Telephony database and said Caller identification unit, and allocating at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of said list of records, said at least one Administrative page being configured to offer said at least one business service, said Server being adapted (i) to use information from the Caller identification unit to determine an identity of the user by collating a number provided by the Caller identification unit with the number stored in the Telephony database, and (ii) to route the user to his Administrative page for providing said at least one business service.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said communication device is selected from regular wire-line telephone, regular cordless telephone, mobile telephone, PC with a modem, laptop computer with a telephony card, Personal Digital Assistance device.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said telecommunication network is selected from public switched telephone network (PSTN), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL), local area network (LAN) and cellular network.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page is a Web page.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page includes an interface for operating a private e-mail service.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the user's telephone number is used in the name field of the e-mail address.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page includes an interface for preparing and publishing a Resume for the user. 8. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page includes an interface for preparing and publishing ads and advertisements.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page includes an interface for preparing a business card for the user.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page includes an interface for providing a car sale and purchase service.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page includes an interface for informing about a car theft.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page includes an interface for running and providing a dating service. 13. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page includes an interface for running and providing a chat service.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one Administrative page includes an interface for running and providing a televoting service.

15. A method for providing at least one business service by a service system to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the method comprising the following steps carried out by the service system: (a) providing a Telephony database storing a list of records comprising at least a telephone number of each communication device; (b) allocating at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of said list of records, said Administrative page being configured to offer said at least one business service to the user; (c) identifying said user placing a call to the service system for linking to said Administrative page and receiving said at least one business service therefrom; (d) routing the identified user to his Administrative page; and (e) providing said at least one business service to the user. 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said identifying of the user includes: providing a Caller identification unit configured to deteπriine the 5 telephone number of the user placing a call to said service system; and determining an identity of the user by collating a number provided by the Caller identification unit with the number stored in the Telephony database. 17. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing an interface on the 10 Administrative page configured for the providing of said at least one business service to the user. 18. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing the user with a password upon his request required for activating said at least one Administrative page allocated for the telephone number of the user's communication device.

15 19. The method of claim 15 further comprising billing the user for the service provided by the service system. 20. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one business service includes operating a private e-mail service. 21. The system of claim 20 wherein the telephone number of the user's 20 communication device is used in the name field of the e-mail address. 22. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one business service includes preparing and publishing a Resume for the user. 23. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one business service includes preparing and publishing ads and advertisements.

25 24. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one business service includes preparing a business card for the user. 25. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one business service includes providing a car sale and purchase service. 26. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one business service includes 30 informing about a car theft.

27. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one business service includes running and providing a dating service. 28. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one business service includes running and providing a chat service. 5 29. The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one business service includes running and providing a televoting service. 30. A method for providing at least one business service by a service system to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the method comprising the following steps carried out by the user: 10 (a) activating at least one Administrative page allocated by said service system to a telephone number of the user's communication device; (b) requesting at least one business service provided by said service system from said at least one Administrative page by using said communication device.

15 31. The method of claim 30 wherein said activating of at least one Web service side includes calling to a service system for obtaining a password, and submitting said password by using the communication device. 32. The method of claim 31 wherein the submitting of said password is carried out by using a network browser. 0 33. The method of claim 31 wherein said network browser is a WWW browser. 34. The method of claim 31 wherein said network browser is a telephone browser. 35. The method of claim 31 wherein the submitting of said password is carried 5 out by speaking the password. 36. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for providing at least one business service by a service- system to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the 0 method comprising the following steps carried out by the service system: (a) storing a list of records comprising at least a telephone number of each communication device in a Telephony database; (b) allocating at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of said list of records, said Administrative page being configured to offer said at least one business service to the user; (c) identifying said user placing a call to the service system for liriking to said Administrative page and receiving said at least one business service therefrom; (d) routing the identified user to his Administrative page; and (e) providing said at least one business service to the user.

37. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for providing at least one business service by a service system to a user of a communication device adapted to operate in a telecommunication network, the computer program product comprising: (a) computer readable program code for causing the computer to store a list of records comprising at least a telephone number of each communication device in a Telephony database; (b) computer readable program code for causing the computer to allocate at least one Administrative page for each telephone number of said list of records, said Administrative page being configured to offer said at least one business service to the user; (c) computer readable program code for causing the computer to identify said user placing a call to the service system linking to said Administrative page and receiving said at least one business service therefrom; (d) computer readable program code for causing the computer to rout the identified user to his Administrative page; and (e) computer readable program code for causing the computer to provide said at least one business service to the user.