GB2358718A - Web page retrieval by telephone number - Google Patents
Web page retrieval by telephone number Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2358718A GB2358718A GB0001875A GB0001875A GB2358718A GB 2358718 A GB2358718 A GB 2358718A GB 0001875 A GB0001875 A GB 0001875A GB 0001875 A GB0001875 A GB 0001875A GB 2358718 A GB2358718 A GB 2358718A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- web page
- data
- computer
- terminal computer
- internet address
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
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Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
- G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
- G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
- G06F16/955—Retrieval from the web using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
- G06F16/9566—URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Data Mining & Analysis (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
- Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)
Abstract
This invention relates to system for retrieving web pages from the internet 14, by searching a database 26 on a host computer 12 in which internet address are stored with a corresponding telephone number for each address. A person who knows the telephone number but not the web site address of a company can search through the telephone number data in the database 28 in order to obtain the desired web site internet address 21. The host computer 12 then can download a web page from the desired internet address and transmit the web page data to a terminal computer 10. Alternatively, the host computer may simply supply the address to the terminal computer 10, in which case the terminal computer may automatically retrieve the page from the internet, or the user may do this.
Description
2358718 Web Page Retrieval
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for retrieving web pages from the internet, in particular when the internet address of the web site at which the web page is found is not known or cannot be easily located.
An increasing number of companies, firms or other organisations now have a web site. Often, a member of the public will not know or will have forgotten the organisation's web site address. This is particularly true of small organisations, which may not have simple web addresses, or which may change their web address frequently. Although a search engine will normally find the web site of a large organisation if the name or activity of the organisation is known, small organisations may be incorrectly indexed or omitted altogether from the search engine's database.
It is an object of the present invention to address these above issues.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a web page retrieval apparatus, comprising a terminal computer, a remote host computer, and a communication link between the terminal computer and the host computer, wherein:
a) the terminal computer has a data input device by which 35 a user of the terminal computer may input data to the 2 terminal computer, a user display for displaying information to the user of the terminal computer, a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and web browser software for downloading web page data via the communication link; b) the remote computer has a memory, a database stored in the memory, the database including data representative of one or more telephone numbers, data representative of one or more internet addresses, each telephone number being associated with at least one internet address, a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and we b server software for providing web page data via the communication link; and is c) the terminal computer is operable to transmit via the communication link to the host computer a telephone number entered with the data input device, whereupon the remote computer is operable to use the telephone number to retrieve from the database a related desired internet address, and to transmit to the terminal computer web page data that permits the terminal computer to display a web page associated with the desired internet address.
If a person using the terminal knows the telephone number of a company but not the address of the company web site, then he or she can search the database by entering the telephone number manually, orally or otherwise into the terminal computer using the data input device, in order to retrieve the desired web page.
The web page data transmitted to the terminal computer may be an internet address such as a URL address displayed by the web browser software on the user display, preferably in the f orm, of a link, so that a person using the terminal 3 computer may connect to that address and down load the desired web page, for example by using a mouse to click on the link.
The memory of the host computer may include one or more fixed or removable disks, a tape based memory or a solid state memory.
It will be understood that components forming the host computer need not all be located at the same geographical or internet location. For example, part or all of the memory of the host computer may include hard ware that is situated remotely to the data port of the host computer.
The database may include data on a web site in addition to the internet address and the telephone number associated with that web site. For example, the database may also include key words so that if part of a telephone number such as the area code is not known, a search can be narrowed by entering a relevant key word.
A plurality of internet addresses may be associated with a single telephone number, so that after the user of the terminal computer has entered a single telephone number, the user is presented with several web page addresses from which he may choose. Alternatively, a single internet address may be associated with a plurality of telephone numbers. However, to avoid confusion for user, the data in the database representative of one or each telephone number will preferably be associated with data representative of a single internet addresses, such that there is just one internet address for each telephone number in the database.
The data input device of the terminal computer will preferably be any device by which a user can input data, such as a keyboard, a mouse, or voice recognition software and apparatus.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a web page retrieval apparatus, comprising a terminal computer, a remote host computer, and a communication link between the terminal computer and the host computer, wherein:
a) the terminal computer has a data input device by which a user of the terminal computer may input data to the terminal computer, a user display for displaying information to the user of the terminal computer, a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and web browser software for downloading web page data via the communication link; b) the remote computer has a memory, a database stored in 20 the memory, the database including data representative of one or more telephone numbers, data representative of one or more internet addresses, each telephone number being associated with at least one internet address, a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and web server software for providing web page data via the communication link; C) the terminal computer is operable to transmit via the communication link to the host computer a telephone number entered with the data input device, whereupon the remote computer is operable to use the telephone number to retrieve from the database a related desired internet address, and to transmit to the terminal computer web page data that permits the terminal computer to display a web page associated with the desired internet address; and d) the terminal computer is automatically activated by said web page data to display on the user display a web page associated with the desired internet address.
Preferably, the host computer will retrieve from the internet a target web page associated with the desired internet address, and then transmit to the terminal computer web page data including said target web page, the terminal computer then being automatically activated by said web page data to display on the user display a web page associated with the desired internet address. This will allow the user of the terminal computer to view the desired web page whilst remaining connected to the internet address of the host computer, and without having to directly connect to the internet address at which the desired web page is located.
So that the user may more easily view different web pages whilst remaining connected to the web site of the host computer, the web page data transmitted by the host computer to the terminal computer may include a frame page.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of retrieving a web page on a terminal computer using apparatus comprising.. a terminal computer having a data input device; a remote host computer; and a communication link between the terminal computer and the host computer; wherein the remote host computer and the terminal computer each have a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and the host computer has a memory in which there is stored a database including data representative of one or more telephone numbers, and data representative of at 6 least one internet address, each telephone number being associated with at least one internet address, the method comprising the steps of:
a) inputting data representative of at least one telephone number into the terminal computer using the data input device; b) transmitting said data from the terminal computer to the host computer over the communication link; c) using the host computer to retrieve from the database a related desired internet address; and d) using the host computer to transmit to the terminal computer web page data that permits the terminal computer to display a web page associated with the desired internet address.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Figure 1 is a functional diagram of a web retrieval system according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to Figure 1.
The web page retrieval system as shown in Figure 1 has a terminal computer (T) 10 and a host computer (H) 12. The host and terminal computers 10 and 12 are each connected to the internet (1) 14 by a respective internet connection 16,18, for example via the public switched telephone network. The two computers can then be connected together over the internet via an internet communication link 20 using web browser software in the terminal computer 10 and web server software in the host computer 12. Each computer 10,12 is provided with a respective data port 17,19 and data transfer software for receiving and transmitting data over the internet 14.
If a user wishes to view a web page at a company's web site (W)' 21, the address of which the user is unaware, the user will first establish the internet communication link 20 with the host computer 12. Normally this is done by using the terminal computer 10 to contact the host computer 12 at an internet address, and downloading a web page from the host computer using the browser software operating within the terminal computer 10. The user will then enter the telephone number of the company into the terminal computer 10 using data input means in the form of a keyboard (K) 22, and transmit the data representative of this telephone number to the host computer 12 over the communication link 20.
The host computer has a memory 26 in which there is stored a database 28 having a set of internet addresses (wl,w2,w3,...) and an associated set of telephone numbers (ti, t2, t3,... The association may be made by means of further data (not shown) stored in the memory. When the host computer 12 receives data representative of a telephone number from the terminal computer 10, a microprocessor (AP) 30 operably connected within the host computer 12 to the memory 26 finds the telephone number and the corresponding desired internet address of the web site 21 in the database 28.
In one embodiment, once the microprocessor ()uP) 30 has retrieved the desired internet address from the database 28, the host computer 12 transmits the desired internet address to the terminal computer 10 over the communication link 20. The user of the terminal computer 10 is then able using the internet address to connect his computer to the web site 21 directly and download the web page located at that address, via the internet connection 16 and a further internet communication link 23 and internet connection 25. The web page may then be viewed on a user display of the terminal computer 10, such as a video monitor (V) 32.
In another embodiment of the invention, once the host computer 12 has retrieved the desired internet address, the host computer 12 will connect to the web site 21 at that address via an internet communication route 27, and will download from the web site 21 at least one web page before transmitting the web page data to the terminal computer 10 over the internet communication link 20, so that the web page may automatically be viewed on the terminal computer monitor 32. 20 A new internet client computer (C) 29 of the host 12 may upload to the host database 28 data including the telephone number of the client user and the client internet address in the following manner. First, the 25 client user will establish a communication link between the client computer 29 and the host 12 over the internet 14, and download a web page from the host computer onto the client computer 29. The client user will then enter his telephone number and the client 29 will transmit the 30 telephone number data to the host computer 12. The data submitted by the client will then be vetted by the operators of the host database to ensure its accuracy and suitability for inclusion in the database. The client telephone number and internet address will then be added to the data stored in the database 28 such that the internet address can be retrieved by the microprocessor 30 if the telephone number is known.
The operator of the host database may charge a 5 subscription to clients or may collect revenue from advertising on the host web site.
It is envisaged that client companies will display their telephone number in directories, on company letterhead and other printed matter in a way that identifies the telephone number as being capable of allowing a user to locate a company web site via that host computer.
As it will be appreciated from the above description, the host computer allows web sites to be located according to the telephone number of the company the web site is advertising. This provides a useful aid in web page retrieval and has many commercial applications. For example, companies whose web and telephone number details are on the host computer database can indicate this next to their telephone number on posters or other printed matter, so that members of the public who see and remember the telephone number of a company can also access its web site without having to remember the internet address.
Claims (10)
1. A web page retrieval apparatus, comprising a terminal computer, a remote host computer, and a communication link between the terminal computer and the host computer, wherein:
a) the terminal computer has a data input device by which a user of the terminal computer may input data to the terminal computer, a user display for displaying information to the user of the terminal computer, a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and web browser software for downloading web page data via the communication link; b) the remote computer has a memory, a database stored in the memory, the database including data representative of one or more telephone numbers, data representative of one or more internet addresses, each telephone number being associated with at least one internet address, a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and web server software for providing web page data via the communication link; c) the terminal computer is operable to transmit via the communication link to the host computer a telephone number entered with the data input device, whereupon the remote computer is operable to use the telephone number to retrieve from the database a related desired internet address, and to transmit to the terminal computer web page data that permits the terminal computer to display a web page associated with the desired internet address.
2. A web page retrieval apparatus, comprising a terminal 35 computer, a remote host computer, and a communication link between the terminal computer and the host computer, wherein:
a) the terminal computer has a data input device by which a user of the terminal computer may input data to the terminal computer, a user display for displaying information to the user of the terminal computer, a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and web browser software for downloading web page data via the communication link; b) the remote computer has. a memory, a database stored in the memory, the database including data representative of one or more telephone numbers, data representative of one or more internet addresses, each telephone number being associated with at least one internet address, a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and web server software for providing web page data via the communication link; c) the terminal computer is operable to transmit via the communication link to the host computer a telephone number entered with the data input device, whereupon the remote computer is operable to use the telephone number to retrieve from the database a related desired internet address, and to transmit to the terminal computer web page data that permits the terminal computer to display a web page associated with the desired internet address; d) the terminal computer is automatically activated by said web page data to display on the user display a web page associated with the desired internet address.
3. A web page retrieval apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, in which the web page data is an internet address 12 - displayed by the web browser on the user display.
4. A web page retrieval apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, in which the host computer retrieves from the internet a target web page associated with the desired internet address, and then transmits to the terminal computer web page data including said target web page, the terminal computer then being automatically activated by said web page data to display on the user display a web page associated with the desired internet address.
5. A web page retrieval apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, in which the terminal computer is automatically activated upon receipt of the web page data to retrieve f rom the is internet a target web page associated with the desired internet address, and then to display on the user display a web page associated with the desired internet address.
6. A web page retrieval apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, in which there is just one internet address associated with each telephone number.
7. A method of retrieving a web page on a terminal computer using apparatus comprising: a terminal computer having a data input device; a remote host computer; and a communication link between the terminal computer and the host computer; wherein the remote host computer and the terminal computer each have a data port and software for transmitting and receiving data over the communication link, and the host computer has a memory in which there is stored a database including data representative of one or more telephone numbers, and data representative of at least one internet address, each telephone number being associated with at least one internet address, the method comprising the steps of:
13 - a) inputting data representative of at least one telephone number into the terminal computer using the data input device; 5 b) transmitting said data from the terminal computer to the host computer over the communication link; c) using the host computer to retrieve f rom. the database a related desired internet address; and d) using the host computer to transmit to the terminal computer web page data that permits the terminal computer to display a web page associated with the desired internet address.
8. A method of retrieving a web page as claimed in Claim 7, comprising the further step of automatically activating the terminal computer to display on a user display a web page in response to the web page data transmitted by the host computer.
9. A web page retrieval apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.
10. A method of retrieving a web page substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB0001875A GB2358718A (en) | 2000-01-27 | 2000-01-27 | Web page retrieval by telephone number |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB0001875A GB2358718A (en) | 2000-01-27 | 2000-01-27 | Web page retrieval by telephone number |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB0001875D0 GB0001875D0 (en) | 2000-03-22 |
| GB2358718A true GB2358718A (en) | 2001-08-01 |
Family
ID=9884442
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB0001875A Withdrawn GB2358718A (en) | 2000-01-27 | 2000-01-27 | Web page retrieval by telephone number |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2358718A (en) |
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL1018323C2 (en) * | 2001-06-18 | 2002-12-19 | Score It B V | Search system to find web-site address - URL - when searcher keys in character string such as telephone number, company name, postcode etc. |
| WO2007130133A1 (en) * | 2006-04-27 | 2007-11-15 | Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ab | Method of discovering and accessing web pages |
| US9262606B2 (en) | 2011-10-03 | 2016-02-16 | Zypline Services, Inc. | Systems and methods for pairing identification data to a network-based service |
Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO1996042041A2 (en) * | 1995-06-07 | 1996-12-27 | Open Market, Inc. | Internet server access control and monitoring systems |
| WO1999022488A2 (en) * | 1997-10-28 | 1999-05-06 | D & I Systems, Inc. | Method and system for accessing information on a network |
-
2000
- 2000-01-27 GB GB0001875A patent/GB2358718A/en not_active Withdrawn
Patent Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO1996042041A2 (en) * | 1995-06-07 | 1996-12-27 | Open Market, Inc. | Internet server access control and monitoring systems |
| WO1999022488A2 (en) * | 1997-10-28 | 1999-05-06 | D & I Systems, Inc. | Method and system for accessing information on a network |
Non-Patent Citations (4)
| Title |
|---|
| http://www.555-1212.com/about_us.cfm * |
| http://www.infospace.com/_1_4MB2TRT02U9USYJ_info/articles/ pr52896.html * |
| PC/Computing No.248, December 1999, "Answers" & http://www.infousa.com * |
| Teleconnect, Vol. 17, No. 4, April 1999, page 12 & http://www.anywho.com * |
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL1018323C2 (en) * | 2001-06-18 | 2002-12-19 | Score It B V | Search system to find web-site address - URL - when searcher keys in character string such as telephone number, company name, postcode etc. |
| WO2007130133A1 (en) * | 2006-04-27 | 2007-11-15 | Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ab | Method of discovering and accessing web pages |
| US9262606B2 (en) | 2011-10-03 | 2016-02-16 | Zypline Services, Inc. | Systems and methods for pairing identification data to a network-based service |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB0001875D0 (en) | 2000-03-22 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAP | Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1) |