This invention pertains to an interactive transmission system and more particularly to an interactive transmission system of a type in which a general transmission of signals is provided in a manner adapted to be received by a plurality of television receivers at viewing stations while means at the viewing stations permits the viewer to respond to the information transmitted and also to register a telephoned report at an associated one of a plurality of locations, such as stores. This invention is particularly useful in providing an interactive purchasing system in which shopping can be conducted in a bi-directional manner based on the selection of merchandise displayed at a video viewing station and entry of a purchase order by telephone from the viewing station.
Heretofore interactive arrangments have been provided in which, for example, a subscriber can dial a given broadcasting station. The station will then select and address an appropriate predetermined program of information to be transmitted to the particular subscriber.
According to another arrangment a so-called "electronic newspaper" has been provided wherein there is a continuous broadcast of inforation and the customer can, at his viewing end, "flip" through the "pages" broadcast at a desired rate.
According to a further arrangement, the viewer can, using a decoder and key pad, select a page of text as desired. A decoder memory or shift register is employed to store the digitized pages being broadcast. At that point the pages are cycled at a rate on the order of 0.25 seconds per page.
As disclosed herein, a system is provided in which a unit can be attached to a commercial television receiver and simply coupled to a telephone to dial one of a number of telephone numbers and place a purchase order in response to selecting an item of merchandise at the viewing station. The dialed store provides an audio response via the telephone as well as a recordation of the purchase for the records of the store.
The called store identifies the calling party by means of a code transmitted as a preamble to the buying information. The code contains the credit card number and telephone number of the caller. The caller has a row of pre-set thumbwheel switches at his unit with this information. The computer at the called station is of a type which can perform a credit check on the caller by means of the credit card number. This number also gives the computer access to the name and billing address of the caller.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds