WO2001078336A1

WO2001078336A1 - System and method for telephone communication and internet browsing at the same time

Info

Publication number: WO2001078336A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/000611
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young Koo Cho
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-04-11
Filing date: 2001-04-11
Publication date: 2001-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 2002-10-11
Also published as: KR20010095639A; AU2001248901A1

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and method for telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time by entering a telephone number, specific number or IP number into the URL address bar of a Web browser. The system and method of the present invention provides a home page of a Web site according to an entered telephone number, specific number or IP number and connects a communication link to a communication terminal (server) assigned the entered number as a domain address, for the Internet user at the same time. In the method, a Web-to-phone service window is provided to an Internet user prior to providing a homepage of a Web site corresponding to an entered telephone number domain name. A communication link to the communication terminal (server) assigned with the telephone number, specific number or IP number as the domain name is established.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION AND INTERNET BROWSING AT THE SAME TIME

Technical Field

The present invention relates, in general, to a system and method for telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time by entering a telephone number, specific number or IP number into the address bar on a Web browser and, more particularly, to a system and method of opening a Web page in addition to accomplishing a communication link to an agent (company) of the Web page when entering an IP number or a domain name, which consist of numerals including the telephone number of a corresponding Web site, into the address bar on the Web browser.

Background Art

Recently, not only the number of Internet users, but also the number of Internet sites has been increasing geometrically. Therefore, Internet service providers have been striving to find domain names that are easily memorizable and unique for attracting attention of the Internet users. However, the most of unique and easily memorizable domain names have been reserved, and so it is very difficult for Internet service providers to get desired new domain names. The Internet service providers thus have to invest huge amounts of money for advertising themselves and increasing quality of their services. But, there is a limit to the benefits obtainable from advertising Internet services or increasing the service quality without having unique or easily memorizable domain names. On the other hand, the majority of companies, which own many branch offices throughout a nation, or individuals select specific telephone numbers with the number ' 1588' as a code number, or telephone numbers assigned to personal wired/wireless terminals, and use the selected telephone numbers as their representative telephone numbers for advertising themselves. Recently, many companies/individuals preferably and widely use such a system for advertisement with the representative telephone numbers.

The majority of companies or individuals provides Internet Web services or plan to provide the Internet Web services to Internet users. These companies/individuals make their domain names for their home pages by using a combination of letters or numerals, and register their domain names terminated by 'co.kr' to KRNIC, and their domain names terminated by '.com', or '.net' to INTERNIC of USA. For example, 'korea.com' which is the domain name of the Internet service provider of

Korea, Thrunet, was registered to INTERNIC. When an Internet user enters a specific domain name into the address bar on a Web browser, the Web page corresponding to the entered domain name is opened on the user's monitor of a wired/wireless Internet terminal.

Therefore, the companies/individuals must advertise not only their domain addresses for cyber-marketing, but also their telephone numbers for tele-marketing. So the companies/individuals must invest huge amounts of money and effort for separately advertising their cyber-marketing services and tele-marketing services.

Disclosure of the invention

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time, which connects a user to a desired Web page, in addition to accomplishing a voice communication link and/or a video communication link to an agent, which is a company or an individual providing the Web site, when entering a telephone number into the address bar on a Web browser. Recently, an Internet user uses a service that connects the user to an Internet Web site by entering a domain address or numerals that include a telephone number to a wired/wireless Internet service terminal including a cellular phone by an agreement of a wired/wireless communication service provider with a domain name provider. Another object of the present invention is also to provide a system and method for telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time, which sends voice-information of a Web page under the ARS server to an Internet user for giving convenience to the user when the user accesses the Web page. In accordance with aspects of the present invention, the system for telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time by entering a telephone number into the address bar on a Web browser includes a DNS server, an Internet/communication service server, a communication connection server, and an exchange.

The DNS server checks the entered IP address and determines whether it is the IP address of a site that provides a service of the present invention. If it is the IP address of a site that provides the service of the present invention, the DNS server connects the user's terminal to the Web site of the IP address. The Internet/communication service server is connected to the terminal of the Internet user through the DNS server, and provides a service window and a Web-to- phone service window according to the user's request. The above-mentioned process may be omitted when there is an agreement of a wired/wireless service provider with a company or an individual providing the service based on the present invention.

When the user enters a telephone number into the address bar on an Internet Web browser, the Internet/communication service server transforms the telephone number to a corresponding domain address. The domain address is sent to the DNS server as a signal. The Internet/communication service server retrieves a corresponding Web site. At the same time, a voice communication link to a server of the entered telephone number is established through a communication terminal such as a wired/wireless Internet terminal including a cellular phone, telephone, an IP phone, and a Web-based video telephone.

The communication connection server transforms the telephone number signal outputted from the Internet/communication service server to a protocol for the wired/wireless communication network. The exchange receives the telephone number signal from the communication connection server, and determines the IP address of a terminal according to the signal, and also makes a connection between the terminal and the Internet/communication service server.

The above-mentioned system of this invention is targeted for a user who wants to connect to a Web site that has a telephone number as a domain name, or who wants to establish a voice communication link to a server by using a communication terminal such as a wired/wireless Internet terminal including a cellular phone, a telephone, an IP phone, and a Web-based video telephone.

In order to accomplish the objects, the present invention provides a method for controlling a connection between a wired/wireless Internet terminal including a cellular phone for an Internet connection, an Internet site having a domain name consisting of a telephone number, and a communication terminal (server) assigned a telephone number or an IP number used as a domain name, thus accomplishing telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time, comprising the steps of: providing a Web-to-phone service window to an Internet user; and providing a home page of a Web site corresponding to an entered telephone number domain name to the Internet user when the Internet user enters the telephone number domain name into a URL address bar of a Web browser, and at the same time, connecting the Internet terminal to the communication terminal (server) assigned the telephone number or IP number used as the domain name, thus establishing a communication link to the communication terminal.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a system for telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time by entering a telephone number into the address bar on a

Web browser in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an Internet/communication service server included in the system of the present invention; and Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the process carried out by the system of the present invention. Best mode carrying out the invention

Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a system for telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time by entering a telephone number into the address bar on a Web browser in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig.l, the system according to the preferred embodiment of this invention consists of a DNS server 100, an Internet/communication service server 200, and a communication connection server 300.

When a user enters a domain address consisting of a telephone number or other specific numerals, or an IP address (hereinbelow, referred to simply as "telephone number") into his/her own Internet terminal 10, such as a personal computer, a wireless communication terminal or a PDA, so as to access a desired Web page, the DNS server 100 primarily receives a signal of the entered domain name from the Internet terminal 10. Upon reception of the signal of the entered domain name from the Internet terminal 10, the DNS server 100 determines an IP address according to the received domain name. Then the DNS server 100 connects the Internet terminal 10 to a Web site of the IP address. However, it should be understood that the above- mentioned process may be omitted when there is an agreement of a wired/wireless service provider with a company or an individual providing a service based on the present invention.

The DNS server 100 receives the signal of the entered domain name consisting of numerals from the Internet/communication service server 200 or the Internet terminal 10, and determines an IP address from the received domain name. After that, the DNS server 100 connects the Internet terminal 10 or the Internet/ communication service server 200 corresponding to the determined IP address to the Web site of the IP address. That is, the DNS server 100 stores IP address information of the Web site corresponding to the entered telephone number, such as 1588 (code number) XXXX (number), a unique number XXXX, or an IP number. Therefore, when an Internet user enters a domain name, such as telephone- number. com, domain-name. com/telephone-number.html(xtml), into the URL address bar on a Web browser, or enters a telephone number in a wired/wireless Internet communication terminal that provides a service based on the present invention, the DNS server 100 determines the IP address of a Web site corresponding to the entered telephone number domain name or a telephone number of file such as html(xtml).

The Internet/communication service server 200 sends information, corresponding to a request signal outputted from the Internet terminal 10 through the Internet, to the Internet terminal 10. In such a case, the information provided by the Internet communication service server 200 may include Internet home page information, a Web-to-phone service, a chatting service, a video communication service, or an electronic commerce service. In a detailed description, the Internet/communication service server 200 consists of a home page service provider 210, a Web-to-phone service provider 220, a video communication service provider 230, an additional service provider 240, and a database server 250 as shown Fig. 2.

The home page service provider 210 provides a home page and a Web page to an Internet user. The home page service provider 210 also manages members, if the system of this invention is conducted in the form of a membership system. In other words, the home page service provider 210 sends home page information retrieved from the database server 250 to the Internet terminal 10 when the provider 210 receives a URL resource signal from the Internet terminal 10. In response to the home page information outputted from the Home page service provider 210, the Internet terminal 10 opens a home page on its monitor.

After that, when the Internet terminal 10 requests another service, the home page service provider 210 reads Web page information corresponding to the request data from the database server 250, and sends it to the Internet terminal 10. At this time, if the system of the present invention is conducted in the form of a membership system, the user is asked to enter a user-ID and a password in a log-in box on the home page or a Web page. And then, the home page service provider 210 verifies the user-ID and password through the database server 250, and sends a response message to the user according to the result.

The Web-to-phone service provider 220 provides a service for allowing an Internet user to accomplish a voice communication link to a wired/wireless communication terminal positioned at the remote location. At this time, a Web-to-phone service program is stored in the database server 250. This Web-to-phone service program is searched and invoked by the Web-to-phone service provider 220, and opens a service window on the user's Internet terminal 10. The above-mentioned process, including the entering of a log-in ID and password, can be omitted by the prior consultation with a wired/wireless service provider and a company providing a service according to the present invention The Web-to-phone service window is provided with a blank box for allowing an Internet user to enter a telephone number by using a keyboard, and active buttons of dial numbers for allowing the user to select a telephone number by using a mouse. Therefore, when an Internet user enters a telephone number in the Web-to-phone service window, the Web-to-phone service provider 220 checks the entered telephone number. The Web-to-phone service provider 220 sends a communication request signal to a wired/wireless exchange (not shown). In response to the communication request signal, the wired/wireless exchange connects to a communication terminal. Since the communication request signal from the Web-to- phone service provider 220 has to be applied to the wired/wireless communication system though the Internet, it is better to apply the communication signal to the wired/wireless communication network through the communication connection server 300, which is a gateway service.

When the video communication service provider 230 receives the video communication request signal from the Internet terminal 10, it reads and invokes a video communication service from the database server 250. A video image signal or an Internet user's face image signal from the Internet terminal 10 is sent to a remote location where the Internet user requests.

The additional service provider 240 provides a variety of services, such as voice information service, electronic commerce, chatting, insurance, and stock exchange services to the Internet users. In order to accomplish the desired operational functions, the additional service provider 240 reads information from the database server 250 and provides the information to the Internet user. The additional service provider 240 also receives service request messages from the Internet user and processes the request messages, and determines what service the user wants. The additional service provider 240 reads and sends response information, corresponding to the determination results, from the database server 250 to the user. The communication connection server 300 is a gateway server. It transforms the signal of telephone number from the Internet/communication service server 200 to protocol for wired/wireless communication network. It also connects the Internet to the wired/wireless communication network. The communication connection server 300 transmits a signal to an exchange (not shown) through the wired/wireless communication network. In response to the input signal, the exchange determines the IP address of the terminal corresponding to the received telephone number, and sends a voice communication request signal to the terminal of the IP address. As a result of the previous steps, a connection between the Internet terminal 10 and the Internet user communication terminals 20 and 21 is established and both end parts exchange audio signals.

In such a case, the Internet user communication terminal 20 may be an ARS server and the Internet user communication terminal 21 may be a voice communication device, such as telephone, cellular phone, wired/wireless Internet device, wired/wireless Web-based video telephone, or IP phone.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the process carried out by the system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown Fig. 3, when an Internet user drives a Web browser and enters a domain name of a Web site that provides a service according to the present invention into the URL address bar on the Web browser, the DNS server 100 receives a domain name signal from the Internet terminal 10. And then, the DNS server 100 searches and selects the IP address of the Web site corresponding to the entered domain name from a database. The DNS server 100 transmits a URL resource signal to the selected IP address.

At steps SI 00 and S200, the home page service provider 210 receives the URL resource signal from the Internet terminal 10, and sends home page information to the Internet terminal 10. Therefore, a desired home page is displayed on the monitor of the Internet terminal 10.

At step S300, when an Internet user requests a Web-to-phone service through the home page on the monitor so as to accomplish a voice communication link to a wired/wireless telephone through the Internet, the Web-to-phone service provider 220 reads and invokes a Web-to-phone service program from the database server 250. Thereafter, the Web-to-phone service provider 220 transmits a Web-to-phone service window to the Internet terminal 10. However, it should be understood that the above-mentioned steps may be omitted from the process when there is an agreement of the wired/wireless service provider with the company or the individual providing a service based on the present invention.

The Web-to-phone service window is a window that is very similar to the service windows of "dial pad", and so it allows the user to enter a desired telephone number by operation of a keyboard or mouse. At step S400, when the Web-to-phone service window pops up on the monitor, the user enters a domain name such as ' 15881234.com' into the address bar on the service window. The Web-to-phone service provider 220 receives and determines a URL resource signal corresponding to the entered domain name ' 15881234' prior to sending the URL resource signal according to '15881234' to the DNS server 100. The DNS server 100 receives the domain name signal corresponding to ' 15221234' and searches and reads information of the IP address of a Web site according to ' 15881234' from the database (not shown), and transmits the URL resource signal to the IP address. In such a case, the domain name may be numbers that consist of any numbers except ' 15881234', or numbers without having '.com'. At step S500, home page information is transmitted to the Internet terminal 10 according to the received URL resource signal, and so the desired home page is opened on the monitor of the Internet terminal 10.

The Internet/communication service server 200 transmits the domain name of the entered telephone number to the DNS server and at the same time, it transmits a signal corresponding to ' 15881234' to the communication connection server 300. When the communication connection server 300 receives the signal of ' 15881234' from the Internet/communication service server 200 connected to the Internet, it transforms the protocol suitable for the Internet to a protocol suitable for the wired/wireless communication network, and transmits the signal of '15881234' to the exchange (not shown). At step S600, the exchange receives the signal of ' 15881234' and sends a communication request signal to the Internet user communication terminal 21 or the server 20, which is registered at ' 15881234', and connects the Internet/ communication service server 200 to the Internet user communication terminal 21 or the server 20. At steps S700 and S800, the Internet user receives home page information from the Internet communication service server 200 (after this, the Internet user receives service information provided by the Internet sites) and makes a voice communication connection with the Internet user communication terminal 21. At this time, the Internet/communication service server 200 provides choices to the user such as telephone only service like 'Only telephone number' or 'Not for telephone number domain name', or Internet only service like 'Not for telephone connection'.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the present invention provides a system and method for telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time. The system and method of the present invention allows an Internet user to access an Internet home page by entering a telephone number, a domain name consisting of specific numerals or an IP number into the address bar of a Web browser and at the same time, making a voice communication connection to a terminal assigned the telephone number as a domain name.

Claims

Claims :

1. A system for telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time, comprising: a DNS server for determining an IP address of a Web site corresponding to a telephone number, specific number or IP number entered by an Internet user and connecting the Web site of the IP address to an Internet user's communication terminal; an Internet/communication service server for providing corresponding service windows and Web-to-phone service windows to the Internet user by a connection to the Internet user's communication terminal provided by said DNS server, retrieving a home page of the Web site corresponding to an entered telephone number domain name by transmitting a signal transformed from the entered telephone number domain name, to said DNS server, and at the same time, connecting the Internet terminal to the telephone number terminal after connecting the telephone number terminal (server) assigned the telephone number, specific number or IP number, through a wired/wireless communication network of an Internet terminal or the Internet; a communication connection server for transforming a signal corresponding to the telephone number received from said Internet/communication service server into a suitable protocol for the wired/wireless communication network; and an exchange for receiving the signal corresponding to the telephone number from said communication connection server, determining corresponding IP address of the terminal and connecting the terminal of the IP address to said Internet/ communication service server.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said Internet/communication service server system comprises: a homepage service provider for providing files of both a home page and a Web page in response to an Internet user's request; a Web-to-phone service provider for connecting to the wired/wireless communication network on the Internet for accomplishing a wired/wireless communication ; a video communication service provider for transmitting video image information received from the Internet terminal to a remote location; an additional service provider for providing additional services such as a chatting service, an electronic commerce service or a stock exchange service to the Internet user; and a database server for storing all the information data for providing a service to the Internet user.

3. A method for controlling a connection between a wired/wireless Internet terminal including a cellular phone for an Internet connection, an Internet site having a domain name consisting of a telephone number, and a communication terminal (server) assigned a telephone number or an IP number used as a domain name, thus accomplishing telephone communication and Internet browsing at the same time, comprising the steps of: providing a Web-to-phone service window to an Internet user; and providing a home page of a Web site corresponding to an entered telephone number domain name to the Internet user when the Internet user enters the telephone number domain name into a URL address bar of a Web browser, and at the same time, connecting the Internet terminal to the communication terminal (server) assigned the telephone number or IP number used as the domain name, thus establishing a communication link to the communication terminal.