Method and apparatus for a cryptographically-assisted commercial network system designed to facilitate and support expert-based commerce

Abstract

The present invention is an expert matching method and apparatus for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking a solution to an expert request. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus of the present invention includes a controller having a database for storing expert qualifications. In one embodiment, the controller receives an expert request. A search program identifies experts qualified to respond to the expert request. The expert request is then transmitted to the expert, which results in an expert answer transmitted to and received by the central controller. After authentication of the expert answer, using a wide range of security levels from passwords to cryptography, the answer is forwarded to the end user. The method and apparatus of the present invention have applications on the Internet as well as conventional voice telephony systems.

Claims

What is claimed:

1. An expert matching apparatus for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking a solution to an end user request, comprising:

a controller unit for receiving an end user request generated by an end user, the controller unit having a database for storing therein a plurality of qualifications for a plurality of experts, each expert qualification associated with an address corresponding to a particular expert;

means for searching the database to generate a search result containing expert qualifications which correspond to the end user request;

means for guaranteeing payment to the expert for services rendered to the end user;

means for initiating remittance of payments to the experts;

means for transmitting at least a portion of the end user request to the expert address based on the search result;

means for receiving an expert answer corresponding to the end user request transmitted; and

means for transmitting at least a portion of the expert answer to the end user.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the expert address is selected from the group consisting of a web page address, a bulletin board address, a pager number, a telephone number, an email address, a voice mail address, a facsimile telephone number, and a postal mail address.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the expert qualifications are selected from the group consisting of a subject matter designator, experience, education, licenses, location, availability criteria, response times, rates, payment method, publications, prior work history, and a resume.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for certifying expert qualifications including a second database having expert names and qualifications corresponding to each expert name.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for receiving the expert answer includes an interface selected from the group consisting of an electronic network, the electronic network having at least one of an electronic bulletin board, a web page, a voice mail system, a voice telephone system, and a facsimile system.

6. The apparatus of claim I, wherein the means for receiving the end user request includes an electronic network, the electronic network having at least one of an electronic bulletin board, a web page, a voice mail system, a voice telephone system, and a facsimile system.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for transmitting at least a portion of the end user request includes an electronic network, the electronic network having at least one of an electronic bulletin board, a web page, a voice mail system, a voice telephone system, and a facsimile system.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for authenticating at least one of the origin and integrity of transmissions received by the controller unit.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the authentication means includes a cryptographic operation with an encryption key.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the authentication means includes an identifier selected from the group consisting of a password, a name, or an identification number.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the authentication means includes a digital signature.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the encryption key belongs to an asymmetric cryptographic protocol.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the encryption key belongs to a symmetric cryptographic protocol.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the authentication means includes a hash protocol.

15. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the authentication means includes biometric qualification.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the biometric qualification includes fingerprint analysis.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the biometric qualification includes voice analysis.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the database includes a memory device for storing expert qualifications in at least one of a text, video, and audio format.

19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the search means queries the database for expert qualifications which correspond to the end user request.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the end user request includes searchable criteria.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the search means queries the database for expert qualifications which correspond to the criteria.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the search means includes a fuzzy logic protocol for searching the database.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the search means includes an artificial intelligence system for searching the database.

24. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the search means includes an expert system for searching the database.

25. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the search means includes a keyword search procedure for searching the database.

26. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means to classify the end user request.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the classifying means includes a second database having predetermined subject matter classifications for classifying the end user requests by subjects contained in the second database.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the classification means includes a fuzzy logic protocol.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the classification means includes an expert system.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the classification means includes an artificial intelligence system.

31. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the classification means includes a comparator for semantic comparison between the end user request and the expert qualifications.

32. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the classifying means includes a second database having predetermined subject matter classifications for classifying the end user requests by subjects contained in the second database, wherein the end user selects a subject matter classification from the second database.

33. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the classification means includes an interface selected from the group consisting of a voice response system, a web page, and a direct text input field.

34. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for anonymous transmission of end user requests.

35. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for anonymous transmission of expert answers.

36. The apparatus of claims 34 or 35, wherein the anonymous transmission means includes a cryptographic protocol.

37. The apparatus of claims 34 or 35, wherein the anonymous transmission means includes an anonymous mix protocol.

38. The apparatus of claims 34 or 35, wherein the anonymous transmission means includes a voice modification processor.

39. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for the end user to select an expert from the search results.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the controller unit provides the search results to the end user.

41. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the end user selects an expert from a subset of experts who respond to the end user request transmitted by the controller unit.

42. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the controller selects an expert from a subset of experts who respond to the end user request transmitted by the controller unit to the expert based on selection criteria established by the end user.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the selection criteria are at least one of (i) first to respond; (ii) random; (iii) price; and (iv) response time.

44. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for an end user to select at least one expert.

45. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the expert answer transmission means includes an electronic network for transmitting end user requests, the electronic network having at least one of a voice telephone system, a world wide web network, a bulletin board system, an online system, and an Internet system.

46. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the expert answer receiving means includes an electronic network for receiving end user requests, the electronic network having at least one of a voice telephone system, a world wide web network, an electronic bulletin board system, an email address, an online system, and an Internet system.

47. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting expert qualifications to an end user.

48. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting reference data to an end user.

49. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for storing and retrieving reference data.

50. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the payment collection means includes at least one of (i) a credit card system; (ii) digital cash; (iii) electronic funds transfer; and (iv) invoice billing.

51. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the payment remittance means includes at least one of (i) a credit card system; (ii) digital cash; (iii) electronic funds transfer; and (iv) invoice billing.

52. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for payment includes an algorithm for calculating the payment rate as a function of the expert qualifications.

53. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for payment includes an algorithm for calculating the payment rate as a function of the number of times the expert answer is transmitted to an end user.

54. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting a bid from an end user to an expert.

55. The apparatus of claim 54, further comprising means for anonymous transmission of a bid from an expert to an end user.

56. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for direct communication between an expert and an end user through the controller unit.

57. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein the direct communications means includes the controller unit for managing the direct communications between the expert and the end user.

58. The apparatus of claim 56, further including an online service provider system for hosting direct communications between the end user and the expert.

59. The apparatus of claim 57, further including an interface selected from the group consisting of a bulletin board system and a chat conference room.

60. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for real time transmission of an end user request to an expert address, and real time transmission of an expert answer to the end user.

61. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the direct communications are moderated by an expert.

62. The apparatus of claim 57, further comprising means for storing and retrieving the direct communications between the end user and the expert.

63. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a language translator processor for translating at least a portion of one communication selected from the group consisting of end user requests and expert answers.

64. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for storing and retrieving prior end user requests.

65. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the end user request includes a test answer.

66. The apparatus of claim 65, wherein the expert answer is an evaluation of the test answer.

67. An expert matching apparatus for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking answers to a problem, comprising:

a controller unit for receiving an end user request generated by an end user, the controller unit having a database for storing therein a plurality of expert qualifications, each expert qualification associated with an address corresponding to a particular expert;

means for selecting at least one end user request for evaluation by at least one expert;

means for transmitting at least a portion of the end user request to the expert address based on the end user request selection;

means for establishing a price for an expert answer corresponding to the selected end user request;

means for guaranteeing payment to the expert for services rendered to the end user in response to the end user request;

means for receiving the expert answer responsive to the end user request transmitted; and

means for transmitting the expert answer to the end user.

68. The apparatus of claims 1 or 67, further comprising means for receiving a bid from an end user.

69. The apparatus of claims 1 or 67, further comprising means for transmitting a bid to an end user.

70. The apparatus of claims 1 or 67, further comprising means for receiving a bid from an expert.

71. The apparatus of claims 1 or 67, further comprising means for transmitting a bid to an expert.

72. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the receiving means includes an electronic network, the electronic network having at least one of a bulletin board system, an email address, a web page, and a voice telephone system.

73. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the price establishing means includes a margin comparator for determining when a price bid transmitted by an expert is equal to or less than a payment rate submitted by the end user.

74. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein the margin comparator selects the price bid based on margin size.

75. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising:

means for receiving a bid from an expert;

means for transmitting the expert bid to the end user; and

means for receiving an acceptance of the expert bid from an end user.

76. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the expert address includes at least one of a web page address, a bulletin board address, a pager number, a telephone number, an email address, a voice mail address, a facsimile telephone number, and a postal mail address.

77. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the expert qualifications includes at least one of a subject matter designator, experience, education, licenses, location, availability criteria, rates, payment method, publications, prior work history, and a resume.

78. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the expert qualifications are stored and transmittable in a multi-media format.

79. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the means for receiving the expert answer includes an electronic network, the electronic network having at least one of an electronic bulletin board, an email address, a web page, a voice mail system, a voice telephone system, and a facsimile system.

80. The apparatus of claim 67, further including means for transmitting letters of interest to at least one expert.

81. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the means for transmitting at least a portion of the end user request includes an electronic network, the electronic network having at least one of an electronic bulletin board, a web page, a voice mail system, a voice telephone system, and a facsimile system.

82. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising means for authenticating at least one of the origin and integrity of transmissions received by the controller unit.

83. The apparatus of claim 82, wherein the authentication means includes a cryptographic operation with an encryption key.

84. The apparatus of claim 83, wherein the encryption key belongs to an asymmetric cryptographic protocol.

85. The apparatus of claim 83, wherein the encryption key belongs to a symmetric cryptographic protocol.

86. The apparatus of claim 82, wherein the authentication means includes a hash protocol.

87. The apparatus of claim 82, wherein the authentication means includes biometric qualification.

88. The apparatus of claim 87, wherein the biometric qualification includes fingerprint analysis.

89. The apparatus of claim 87, wherein the biometric qualification includes voice analysis.

90. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the database includes a memory device for storing expert qualifications in at least one of a text, video, and audio format.

91. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the selection means queries the database for expert qualifications which correspond to the end user request.

92. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the end user request includes searchable criteria.

93. The apparatus of claim 92, wherein the search means queries a database having end user request and searchable criteria for searchable criteria which correspond to the expert qualifications.

94. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the search means includes a fuzzy logic protocol for searching the database.

95. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the search means includes an artificial intelligence system for searching the database.

96. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the search means includes an expert system for searching the database.

97. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the search means includes a keyword search procedure for searching the database.

98. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising means to classify the end user request including a second database having predetermined subject matter classifications for classifying the end user requests by subjects contained in the second database.

99. The apparatus of claim 98, wherein the classifying means includes the controller unit.

100. The apparatus of claim 98, further comprising means for the end user to classify the end user request wherein the end user selects a subject matter classification from the second database.

101. The apparatus of claim 98, wherein the classification means includes at least one of a voice response system, a web page, and a direct input field.

102. The apparatus of claim 98, wherein the classification means includes a fuzzy logic protocol.

103. The apparatus of claim 98, wherein the classification means includes an expert system.

104. The apparatus of claim 98, wherein the classification means includes a comparator for semantic comparison between the end user request and the expert qualifications.

105. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising means for anonymous transmission of end user requests.

106. The apparatus of claim 67, further comprising means for anonymous transmission of expert answers.

107. The apparatus of claims 105 or 106, wherein the anonymous transmission means includes a cryptographic protocol.

108. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the expert answer transmission means includes an electronic network for transmitting end user requests, the electronic network having an interface selected from the group consisting of a voice telephone system, a world wide web network, an electronic bulletin board system, an online system, and an Internet system.

109. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the expert answer receiving means includes an electronic network for receiving end user requests, the electronic network having at least one of a voice telephone system, a world wide web network, an electronic bulletin board system, an email address, an online system, and an Internet system.

110. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the payment collection means includes a payment device selected from the group consisting of (i) a credit card system; (ii) digital cash; (iii) electronic funds transfer; and (iv) invoice billing.

111. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the payment remittance means includes a payment device selected from the group consisting of (i) a credit card system; (ii) digital cash; (iii) electronic funds transfer; and (iv) invoice billing.

112. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the means for payment includes an algorithm for calculating the payment rate as a function of an expert qualification.

113. A computer implemented expert matching apparatus for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking a solution to an end user request, comprising:

a controller unit for receiving an end user request generated by an end user, the controller unit having a database for storing therein a plurality of expert qualifications, each expert qualification associated with an address corresponding to a particular expert;

means for classifying the end user request;

means for searching the database to generate a search result containing expert addresses which correspond to the end user request classification;

means for searching external databases for search results containing expert addresses which correspond to the end user request classification;

means for authenticating data communications between the controller unit and the expert;

means for transmitting at least a portion of the end user request to the expert based on the search result;

means for receiving at least one expert answer responsive to the transmitted end user request; and

means for transmitting at least a portion of the expert answer to the end user.

114. The apparatus of claim 113, further comprising means for exchanging payment between the end user and the expert.

115. An electronic system for matching an inquiry formulated by a remotely located user with at least one remotely located consultant having particular qualifications relevant to said inquiry, said system comprising:

a controller unit associated with a central authority, said controller unit capable of communicating with a plurality of remotely located users on the one hand and a plurality of remotely located consultants on the other hand, said controller unit being capable of receiving an inquiry from one of said users and transmitting said inquiry to at least one of said consultants;

a database associated with said controller unit, said database storing qualifications corresponding to each of said consultants;

means associated with said controller unit for searching said database to select at least one of said consultants having qualifications suitable for responding to said inquiry;

means for searching external databases for experts having qualifications suitable for responding to said inquiry;

means associated with said controller unit for transmitting said inquiry to each of said selected consultants;

means associated with said controller unit for establishing with at least one of said selected consultants a fee for responding to said inquiry; and

means associated with said controller unit for transmitting said response to said user.

116. The system of claim 115, further comprising means associated with said controller unit for receiving a response from at least one of the selected consultants with whom a fee has been established.

117. The system of claim 115, further comprising means associated with said controller unit for establishing with said user a price for providing a response to said inquiry.

118. The system of claim 117 wherein said price is proposed by said user and said controller unit either accepts said price or proposes a different price.

119. The system of claim 117 wherein said price is proposed by said controller unit and said user either accepts said price or proposes a different price.

120. The system of claim I 15 wherein said central controller unit transmits a proposed consultant fee to said consultant along with said inquiry and said consultant either accepts said proposed fee or proposes a different fee.

121. A method of electronically managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking a solution to an end user request, comprising the steps of:

providing a controller unit having a database for storing therein a plurality of expert qualifications, each expert qualification associated with an address corresponding to a particular expert;

receiving at the controller an end user request from an end user;

searching the database to generate a search result identifying experts who have qualifications which correspond to the end user request;

transmitting at least a portion of the end user request to at least one expert address based on the search result; and

transmitting an expert answer, based on the end user request, to at least one of the controller unit and the end user.

122. The method of claim 121, further comprising the steps of collecting payments from the end users.

123. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of remitting payments to the experts based on the expert answer.

124. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of certifying the expert qualifications by querying a second database having expert names and corresponding qualifications.

125. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of authenticating at least one of the origin and integrity of transmissions received by the controller unit.

126. The method of claim 125, wherein the authentication step includes a cryptographic operation with an encryption key.

127. The method of claim 125, further comprising the step of authenticating with a hash protocol.

128. The method of claim 125, further comprising the step of authenticating with a biometric qualification.

129. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of storing expert qualifications in at least one of a text, video, and audio format in the database.

130. The method of claim 121, wherein the end user request has searchable criteria, comprising the further step of transmitting the end user request to an expert having qualifications which correspond to the searchable criteria.

131. The method of claim 121, further comprising the steps of:

classifying the end user request by locating terms contained in both the end user request and a second database having predetermined subject matter classifications; and

transmitting the end user requests to experts having qualifications which match the subject matter classifications of the end user requests.

132. The method of claim 130, wherein the end user generates the searchable criteria.

133. The method of claim 131, wherein the classification step further includes the step of selecting a subject matter classification from an electronic display of predetermined subject classifications.

134. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of anonymously transmitting end user requests.

135. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of anonymously transmitting expert answers.

136. The method of claims 134 or 135, wherein the anonymous transmission step includes a cryptographic protocol.

137. The method of claim 121, further comprising the steps of:

providing the search results to the end user; and

selecting an expert based on the search results.

138. The method of claim 121, further comprising the steps of:

transmitting the end user request to the experts;

identifying a subset of experts who respond to the end user requests; and

selecting an expert from the subset.

139. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of using the controller unit to select an expert from the subset of experts who respond to the end user request transmitted by the controller unit based on selection criteria established by the end user.

140. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of transmitting expert qualifications to an end user.

141. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of transmitting reference data from a first end user to a second end user.

142. The method of claims 122 or 123, further comprising the step of calculating the payment rate as a function of the expert qualifications.

143. The method of claims 122 or 123, further comprising the step of calculating the payment rate based on the number of times which an expert answer is transmitted to end users 1-N.

144. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of transmitting a price bid from an expert to an end user.

145. The method of claim 144, further comprising the step of anonymously transmitting the price bid from an expert to an end user.

146. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of moderating direct communications between an expert and an end user.

147. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of real time transmission of an end user request to an expert address, and real time transmission of an expert answer to the end user.

148. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of transmitting the expert answer to a second expert for review.

149. The method of claim 121, further comprising the step of randomly selecting expert answers for review by a second expert.

150. An expert matching method for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking answers to a problem, comprising the steps of:

providing a controller unit having a database for storing therein a plurality of expert qualifications, each expert qualification associated with an address corresponding to a particular expert;

receiving at the controller an end user request from an end user;

using the controller unit to select at least one end user request for evaluation by the expert;

establishing a price for the expert answer corresponding to the selected end user request;

providing an electronic means for guaranteeing payment to the expert for provision of the expert answer;

transmitting at least a portion of the end user request to the expert address based on the end user request selection;

receiving the expert answer corresponding to the transmitted end user request; and

transmitting the expert answer to the end user.

151. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of transmitting expert qualifications to the end user.

152. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of receiving price bids from experts.

153. The method of claim 150, further comprising the steps of:

establishing a price by determining when a price bid transmitted by an expert is equal to or less than a payment rate submitted by the end user; and

selecting a price bid based on the margin of size between the payment rated submitted by the end user and the price bid.

154. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of electronically managing auctions for the purpose of matching end user requests with experts.

155. The method of claim 154, further comprising the step of receiving at least one bid at the controller unit.

156. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of transmitting a bid from the controller unit to the expert.

157. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of transmitting a bid from the expert to the end user.

158. The method of claim 150, further comprising the steps of:

transmitting a bid to at least one of the expert and end user; and

receiving an acceptance from at least one of the expert and the end user.

159. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of authenticating at least one of the origin and integrity of transmissions received by the controller unit.

160. The method of claim 159, wherein the authentication step includes a cryptographic operation with an encryption key.

161. The method of claim 159, further comprising the step of cryptographic authentication including an encryption key belonging to a symmetric cryptographic protocol.

162. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of biometric qualification.

163. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of searching the database for expert qualifications which correspond to the end user request.

164. The method of claim 150, further comprising the steps of:

manual classification of the end user request by the end user; and

transmitting the end user requests to experts having qualifications which match the subject matter classifications of the end user requests.

165. The method of claim 164, wherein the manual classification step further includes the step of selecting a subject matter classification from an electronic display of predetermined subject classifications.

166. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of anonymously transmitting an end user request.

167. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of anonymously transmitting an expert answer.

168. The method of claims 166 or 167, further comprising the step of cryptographic transmission.

169. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of exchanging payment between the end user and the expert.

170. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of exchanging payment between the expert and the controller.

171. The method of claim 150, further comprising the step of exchanging payment between the end user and the controller.

172. An electronic system for matching an inquiry formulated by a remotely located user with at least one remotely located consultant having particular qualifications relevant to said inquiry, said system comprising the steps of:

communicating with a plurality of remotely located users on the one hand and a plurality of remotely located consultants on the other hand, said system being capable of receiving an inquiry from one of said users and transmitting said inquiry to at least one of said consultants;

storing said qualifications corresponding to each of said consultants in a database;

searching said database to select at least one of said consultants having qualifications suitable for responding to said inquiry;

transmitting said inquiry to each of said selected consultants; and

transmitting said response to said user.

173. The method of claim 172, further comprising the steps of:

electronically negotiating a price for the answer/response through the controller;

exchanging payment between the end user and the central authority; and

exchanging a guaranteed payment from the central authority to the expert.

174. The method of claim 172, further comprising the step of transmitting a proposed consultant fee to said consultant along with said inquiry and said consultant either accepts said proposed fee or proposes a different fee.

175. A method of providing information, operable for providing product support information comprising the steps of:

transmitting and receiving calls to and from a controller, said controller communicating with a plurality of remotely located users on the one hand, and a plurality of remotely located online consultants on the other hand, said controller being capable of receiving an inquiry from one of said users and transmitting said inquiry to at least one of said online consultants;

storing and retrieving qualifications corresponding to each of said consultants in a database associated with said controller;

searching said database to select at least one of said consultants having qualifications suitable for responding to said inquiry;

balancing the number of online consultants relative to the number of remotely located users; and

routing calls from remotely located users to online consultants based on the inquiry.

176. The method of claim 175, further comprising the steps of:

measuring the duration and frequency of incoming calls from remotely located users; and

adding or removing connections with consultants based on the time and frequency of calls.

177. An expert matching apparatus for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking a solution to an end user request, comprising:

a controller unit configured for processing an end user request generated by an end user, the controller unit having a database for storing therein a plurality of qualifications for a plurality of experts, each expert qualification associated with an address corresponding to a particular expert, said controller unit configured to search the database to generate a search result containing at least one expert qualification which corresponds to the end user request, said controller unit further configured to select an expert based on said search result; and

a transceiver disposed in communication with said controller unit, said transceiver configured for transmitting at least a portion of the end user request to the address of the selected expert, for receiving an expert answer corresponding to the transmitted end user request, and for transmitting at least a portion of the expert answer to the end user.

178. The apparatus of claim 177, wherein said transceiver is further configured for receiving guaranteed payment information from a guaranteed payment system for payment of expert services rendered to the end user and for transmitting payment remittance information to a payment remittance system to remit payment to the selected expert.

179. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the controller unit is further configured to certify expert qualifications, said controller unit further including a second database having expert identifiers and qualifications corresponding to each expert identifier.

180. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the transceiver is disposed in communication with an electronic network, the electronic network selected from the group consisting of an electronic bulletin board, a web page, a voice mail system, a voice telephone system, and a facsimile system.

181. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the controller unit is configured to authenticate either or both origin and integrity of a transmission received by the controller unit.

182. The apparatus of claim 181, wherein the controller unit is configured to authenticate either or both origin and integrity of a transmission received by the controller unit using a cryptographic operation with an encryption key.

183. The apparatus of claim 181, wherein the controller unit is configured to authenticate either or both origin and integrity of a transmission received by the controller unit using an identifier selected from the group consisting of a password, a name, an identification number, and a digital signature.

184. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the controller unit is configured to classify the end user request, the controller unit further including a second database having predetermined subject matter classifications for classifying the end user requests by subjects contained in the second database.

185. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the transceiver is configured to anonymously transmit the portion of the end user request to the selected expert.

186. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the transceiver is configured to anonymously transmit the expert answer.

187. The apparatus of claim 185, wherein the transceiver is configured for anonymous transmissions using a cryptographic protocol.

188. The apparatus of claim 185, wherein the transceiver further comprises a voice modification processor.

189. The apparatus of claim 186, wherein the transceiver is configured for anonymous transmissions using a cryptographic protocol.

190. The apparatus of claim 186, wherein the transceiver further comprises a voice modification processor.

191. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit reference data to an end user, and the controller unit is configured to store and retrieve reference data.

192. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive a bid from the end user and transmit the bid to the selected expert.

193. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the controller unit is configured to allow direct communication between the selected expert and the end user.

194. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the controller unit is configured to store and retrieve a prior end user request.

195. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the end user request includes a test answer.

196. The apparatus of claim 195, wherein the expert answer includes an evaluation of the test answer.

197. The apparatus of claim 177, wherein the controller is configured to establish said price using a margin comparator configured for determining when a price bid transmitted by the selected expert is equal to or less than a payment rate submitted by the end user.

198. The apparatus of claim 197, wherein the margin comparator is configured to select the price bid based on margin size.

199. The apparatus of claim 178, wherein the expert qualifications are selected from the group consisting of a subject matter designator, experience, education, licenses, location, availability criteria, representatives, rates, payment method, publications, prior work history, and a resume.

200. An expert matching device for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking a solution to an end user request, comprising:

a memory device having a database containing a plurality of qualifications for a plurality of experts, each expert qualification associated with an expert address corresponding to a particular expert; and

a processor disposed in communication with said memory device, said processor configured to receive an end user request generated by an end user, to search the database to generate a search result containing at least one expert qualification which corresponds to the end user request, to select an expert based on said search result, to transmit at least a portion of the end user request to the address of the selected expert, to receive an expert answer corresponding to the transmitted end user request, and to transmit at least a portion of the expert answer to the end user.

201. The expert matching device of claim 200, wherein said processor is further configured to receive guaranteed payment information from a guaranteed payment system for payment of expert services rendered to the end user and to transmit payment remittance information to a payment remittance system to remit payment to the selected expert.

202. An expert matching device for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking answers to a problem, comprising:

a memory device having a database containing a plurality of qualifications for a plurality of experts, each expert qualification associated with an expert address corresponding to a particular expert; and

a processor disposed in communication with said memory device, said processor configured to receive an end user request generated by an end user, to establish a price for an expert answer corresponding to an end user request, to receive an end user request for evaluation by at least one expert, to transmit at least a portion of the end user request to an address of a selected expert, to receive the expert answer responsive to the transmitted end user request and to transmit the expert answer to the end user.

203. The expert matching device of claim 202, wherein said processor is further configured to receive guaranteed payment information from a guaranteed payment system for payment to the expert for services rendered to the end user in response to the end user request.

204. An expert matching apparatus for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking answers to a problem, comprising:

a controller unit for processing an end user request generated by an end user, the controller unit having a database for storing therein a plurality of expert qualifications, each expert qualification associated with an expert address corresponding to a particular expert, said controller unit configured to establish a price for an expert answer corresponding to an end user request; and

a transceiver disposed in communication with said controller unit, said transceiver configured for receiving an end user request for evaluation by at least one expert, for transmitting at least a portion of the end user request to an address of a selected expert, for receiving the expert answer responsive to the transmitted end user request and for transmitting the expert answer to the end user.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The method and apparatus of the present invention relate to electronic commerce applications using digital and analog networks.

2. Background

Computerized marketplaces of all kinds are well known in the art. They range from simple classified ad bulletin boards to complex mainframe-based market systems such as NASDAQ which offers a real-time market-making system for tens of thousands of securities brokers. All modern stock, bond and commodity exchanges are supported by underlying computerized databases and related systems which enable them to function.

Typically, electronic Exchanges are designed to facilitate commercial transactions of tokens of ownership, such as shares of stock, or physical objects such as ounces of gold or a used car. Other Exchanges specialize in the sale of information stored on databases such as that provided by Lexis/Nexis, where users pay fees for accessing articles while content providers are paid per article downloaded. Still other Exchanges provide matching services where each party is seeking an efficient way to find the other, such as might be provided by a dating service or a job bank.

Exchanges whose function is to support a marketplace for the buying and selling of consulting services have been few and far between. Since this type of Exchange supports a form of commercial activity which is meant to take place in the future, the Exchange's role is to serve as a structured meeting ground for the negotiation of the service to be provided. However, an Exchange which performs this type of negotiation service creates what has heretofore been considered an unavoidable "man-in-the-middle" problem. In the process of assisting in the negotiation of a consulting contract, one or both parties must first disclose their identity to the other. Thereafter, if commerce appears likely to occur, one party can simply contact the other directly and privately, without the exchange's knowledge, thereby avoiding any costs which might otherwise have been assessed by the Exchange.

In the past, attempts have been made to establish so-called "information marketplaces" to overcome this problem by providing a wide range of supplementary services to add value to the role played by the Exchange. The most notable example of the many failed attempts to solve the problem was the American Information Exchange, AMIX, a service which was piloted in 1991 and soon thereafter disbanded by Autodesk Inc., a software development company located in Sausalito, Calif.

AMIX's goal was to establish an on-line marketplace for the buying and selling of both information and consulting services where every user could be either a buyer or a seller, with AMIX facilitating transactions between them. The AMIX system required both buyers and sellers to become a member of the service, agree to pay a monthly service fee and then purchase and install a dedicated front-end program. A self-described "electronic farmer's market," parties could negotiate agreements for the sale of information or consulting services which AMIX organized by topic. AMIX offered to serve as a non-binding mediator should the parties have a dispute and select a binding arbitrator if necessary. The system also intended to serve as a central record keeper and funds transfer point, either for the clearing of credit card charges or disbursements from pre-established accounts which AMIX managed. AMIX offered neither anonymity nor the controlled release of identity. Buyers or sellers who identified each other using the service could then bypass the service, though AMIX charged monthly fees so that the financial impact of such off-exchange activities might be offset. Furthermore, it encouraged both buyers and sellers to post comments about each other so that future buyers and sellers would be able to evaluate the past reputations of one another.

To understand the failure of AMIX, and all other prior attempts to create working expert-exchange marketplaces, it is necessary to understand that effective markets, whether they be physical or electronic, require a complete and highly specialized set of conditions in order to function and thrive. A single missing ingredient or feature of service might result in a shortage of either buyers or sellers and lead to the collapse of the Exchange--which needs sufficient quantities of both to continue operation. At the same time, the Exchange must be able to ensure that it can derive sufficient income from the commerce of its activities in order to support the Exchange's cost of operations and make a profit.

All successful Exchanges must be able to motivate significant numbers of both buyers and sellers to use the Exchange versus other available market alternatives. Thus, buyers and sellers must 1) have a high expectation of the usefulness of the Exchange which makes them willing to take the time and effort to learn the rules of the Exchange, and, if necessary, become recognized by the Exchange, 2) locate each other on the Exchange at exactly the right time and place, 3) be able to quickly and easily negotiate transaction terms, 4) reach a complete and final agreement where the expectations of the parties are well defined, 5) arrange for acceptable credit terms, 6) deliver the goods or services called for by the agreement, 7) deliver payment when the agreement is fulfilled, 8) rely on the Exchange to enforce the agreement made on the Exchange with certainty of both payment and legal recourse, 9) find the transaction fees reasonable in comparison to alternatives, and 10) have ready access to the market without levels of knowledge and cost of hardware commensurate with the value of the goods or services sold on the Exchange.

Traditional real world commerce in expertise or consulting services strongly favors circumstances where both parties are, at least occasionally, in the same place at the same time and can see one another. When there is no face-to-face contact between the parties (relying instead on mail, phone, faxes, etc.) significant burdens and costs are imposed on the parties which reduce the likelihood of expert commerce taking place. This is especially true if the parties are located in different countries where differences in language, customs, legal systems, currencies, etc., must be dealt with. Each added burden dramatically reduces the chances for agreement and increases the difficulty of satisfying all of the previously stated infrastructure conditions. Finally, if one or both of the parties in an on-line transaction is a private party (such as a part-time freelance consultant) with no established organization or commercial resources, the problems can become effectively insurmountable.

A hypothetical "worst-case" example illustrates both the range and quantity of problems associated with international consulting where the consultant is a private party. Imagine a professor of nanotechnology at the University of Makinsk, located in Kazakhstan, formerly part of the Soviet Union. Although the professor's teaching schedule keeps him fairly busy, there is not much to do in Makinsk. To relieve the boredom and to supplement his limited salary, he decides the time has come to embrace capitalism by using some of his free time to offer freelance nanotechnology consulting. The professor begins by making a list of what needs to be done before being able to sell his nanotechnology expertise.

To begin, how does he locate potential clients? Finding clients is a difficult task for any service professional. It is hard to know who needs their services, especially in a niche field such as nanotechnology. There are less than five hundred people who might want to hire a nanotechnologist and they are all located within a few dozen companies, research labs and government departments scattered around the world. The professor could rent the mailing list of The Nanotechnology Journal and send out promotional mailings, but this would be expensive and time consuming with no guarantee of success. Even more importantly, such a mailing is unlikely to reach a potential client at the exact moment which the client needs nanotechnology consulting services. Though the professor has some contacts, most of his potential customers are unknown to him, as he is to them. Personal solicitations might be more appropriate, but many of the barriers to commerce remain, including potentially insuperable language barriers. And, once he somehow identifies potential clients, how does he contact them? By mail, by phone, by e-mail? If so, how will potential clients respond to those contacts and where should they send any written materials? He cannot receive them at work and home mail delivery is notoriously unreliable in Makinsk.

Finding a potential client is just the beginning of the process, as the professor and client must now synchronize their schedules. The professor recognizes that he must arrange for freelance work which fits around his other teaching and research commitments. Without an assistant or secretary to arrange the work times, the professor is forced to manage the naturally iterative process of scheduling the work. What the professor really needs is a client whose needs precisely fit his requirements so that he can concentrate on providing the consulting, not scheduling it. His free time occurs normally on weekends and late at night, though his night availability varies widely depending on department functions and projects. Can he find work he could do on Saturday nights from 9:00-11:30 PM local time? If there are large ongoing client projects that need to be done, can he deliver his consulting in small chunks? Suppose he had thirty minutes to spare between classes every Wednesday. Could he locate a client project that required just twenty or thirty minutes to finish each week, like grading nanotechnology exams taken at some faraway university? Suppose the professor finds himself with unexpected extra time. Are there clients somewhere in the world whose time requirements can offer him projects on short notice? For example, if he didn't expect to have free time this evening, and things suddenly changed, could he possible find a client in the next few hours? How about in the next few minutes? Suppose he were willing to work at half his regular rate to compensate for the short notice?

Once the professor finds a client whose needs match the professor's timing constraints, how does he quickly and effectively establish his credentials? Though the professor is highly talented, he is still a relative unknown. The likelihood is that the client has only vaguely heard of the professor and his work. Does he mail potential clients copies of his diplomas and his PhD thesis? How will the client be certain that the information is authentic or will the client have to spend time and money to carefully check out the professor's credentials before going any further? Perhaps he should provide references. If so, is there any way that a potential client can quickly check those references without delaying the whole process and thus missing the window of opportunity for work that is needed right away? How can the professor demonstrate that he is capable of answering a potential client's questions without personally meeting with the client's engineers and scientists? He could mail out academic papers, but they might take weeks to arrive via international mail. There is of course also no guarantee that the client can read Russian, though the professor speaks fluent English. If he is competing with other nanotechnologists for a given assignment, how does he prove that he is not only the superior choice for the client but that he is willing to negotiate a price for his services that is at least 75% less expensive than his comparable competition in the West?

Once a deal is struck, how will the consulting work be delivered to the client? Mail is too slow and Federal Express doesn't serve Makinsk. The work could be sent by e-mail, but nanotechnology consulting is usually confidential in nature. Furthermore, assuming the work is delivered by some kind of encrypted e-mail, how can the professor get a bona fide receipt indicating that the work was actually received by the client?

Credit, payment and currency problems make the professor's consulting business even more difficult to get off the ground. If the professor is fortunate enough to locate a client, establish his credentials, agree on a specific job to be done and the price to be paid, how can he be sure that he is actually going to get paid if he delivers satisfactory work. There are many unscrupulous nanotechnology companies that have been known to prey on ex-communist scientists in the former USSR. These companies either don't pay their bills or claim that the work provided was inferior and not at all what was promised. He can't get paid some part in advance, can he? Even if he extends credit to a specific client, how does the professor arrange for payment when the work is complete? He doesn't take credit cards and he certainly doesn't want to trust the Kazakhstan mail system to handle envelopes stuffed with cash. He has a small savings account at the First National Bank of Makinsk, but depositing checks from foreign accounts is viewed with suspicion and all such checks are subject to long delays and surcharges. What's more, the professor wants any payment he receives to be denominated in dollars or German marks. If he performs work for a French company, how will that company arrange to make the payment to the professor in dollars or marks? And, what happens if the client refuses to pay? Is there any recourse available other than writing the client off and never working for that client again?

Finally, suppose that the professor figures out how to do everything necessary to become a successful consultant. There's just one more thing he wants to achieve. He wants to be able to begin work for a client without revealing his identity to the client. (He may be willing to reveal his identity only after his working relationship is well established and the parties have grown comfortable with each other.) He is very concerned that if his department chairman finds out that he's doing corporate consulting, he might require that the professor give all or part of any foreign currency earnings to the university--no matter that the work was done during off hours. Even worse, the chairman could view the foreign consulting as a threat to his power and either fire the professor for unauthorized activities or forbid him from doing any freelance work, insisting that any such work must be done only by the chairman.

Supporting either all or partial anonymity in expert-based commerce, where at least one party is a private individual, currently presents almost insurmountable challenges. Communication by either standard mail or e-mail is difficult since known addresses are required. The professor could leave his name off the return address or use a false name, but the professor's identity might be easily deduced. Incoming mail from a foreign corporation might result in questions from university officials. Anonymous remailers on the Internet could be used if the work is done entirely in digital form, but what foreign company will hire an expert consultant whose name and address they don't even know? Even if anonymity were preserved, collecting payment while remaining anonymous is probably impossible without using cash which is impractical and often dangerous. And, if the professor wants to provide a client with his diplomas, published academic papers or previous client work as credentials, there is simply no way to maintain his anonymity unless he can find a third party trusted by the client who will vouch for the professor's skill while at the same time concealing his identity.

Yet, with all these hurdles, there is a strong case to be made that as tens of millions of businessmen, government officials, academics and ordinary consumers interact with each other more and more via on-line networks, and since physical distance barriers are meaningless in cyberspace, the demand for worldwide commerce in expert services will grow exponentially in the years ahead. What is needed to unlock this growth is a universally accessible facilitating system which is designed to specifically handle the buying and selling of expert services, as opposed to selling information or simply providing an electronic farmer's market. Much as computerized stock markets were invented that could seamlessly and effortlessly handle transactions of billions of shares of equities, bonds and financial instruments every day, there exists a need for expert-based markets where human experts can reliably sell their services to clients they have never met, utilizing a structured, organized system that facilitates and supports the infrastructure needed for expert commerce. What's more, such an expert market system should allow for entirely new features and qualities of service that were heretofore not possible before the rise of computers, databases and the ubiquitous Internet with its related on-line networks.

Furthermore, though the example of the professor of nanotechnology describes a seller-driven protocol whereby the expert consultant seeks to find and sell appropriate clients, it is equally logical to use the inventive system for buyer-driven applications whereby clients who need to locate and retain appropriate expert consultants can do so on an efficient, ad hoc basis.

The applicant is unaware of the existence of any such commercially viable expert exchange which contains the features described above. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an efficient method of locating and matching remote qualified experts ("experts") to customers ("clients") who need their expertise by the method and apparatus of the present invention and where the invention addresses the market mechanisms needed that prior inventions have failed to offer. Another object of the present invention is to locate qualified experts even if they are not currently registered with the Exchange. Another object of the present invention is to provide an asynchronous device and system for connecting the client with the expert, transmitting job requests from client to expert. A further object of the present invention is to authenticate the qualifications of the experts. A still further object of the present invention is to allow clients to review prior work produced by an expert. Another object of the present invention is to provide a reliable method for the expert to be paid by the client where such a method can accommodate a plurality of payment systems that may occur independently of the details of the actual payment service being used in a manner that is transparent to both the client and the expert. Another object of the present invention is to enable the expert to be assured of payment for services by the Exchange if the client does not pay for such services. Yet another object of the present invention is to allow for the Exchange to verify a client's ability to pay prior to delivering the completed analysis, or to allow clients to set up escrow accounts for payment. A still further object of the present invention is to allow the client to choose from a list of experts in a field and select a particular expert to provide service, where such service is in the form of expert advice or judgement. A further object of the present invention allows for a user to search a database of experts where the identities of the experts are concealed from the user, but the user may search a database of those experts by certain characteristics and may optionally communicate with those experts without knowing their identity. A further object of the present invention is to provide a real-time connection between the client and the expert during which negotiations can take place or during which advice or judgement can passed between the parties.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a way for clients to have experts evaluate their work. Another object of the present invention allows students to be graded by multiple evaluators. Another object of the present invention is to allow both the client and the expert to remain anonymous while practicing the invention. Another object of the present invention is to allow clients and experts to verify information that is accessible or communicated as part of practicing the invention. Another object of the present invention is to verify the client's or expert's identity and the client's ability to pay for services. Another object of the present invention is to allow for impartial dispute resolution regarding any dispute which arises from the practice of the invention. Another object of the present invention is to allow the expert to be paid for services immediately upon delivery of work contracted for while practicing the invention. Yet another object of the present invention is the ability to verify that communications occurring while practicing the invention have not been tampered with or altered during communication. A still further object of the present invention is to provide a marketplace for any party practicing the invention to either bid on services or to reach an agreement regarding a transaction for such services as the parties may desire. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for clients to verify the quality of expert answers. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide access to the Exchange without the need for proprietary software.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for an expert seeking to sell his services to more efficiently find a client, allow the client to certify and authenticate the expert's qualifications, allow the client to hire the expert under specific terms and conditions for a specific assignment, and, if desired by either party, have the service provider guarantee payment to the expert for the expert services to be provided while also guaranteeing the buyer's satisfaction with the expert service. The present invention improves the expert's ability to efficiently provide expert services and the buyer's ability to find experts capable and willing to furnish such services at a mutually agreed price and terms. A valuable application of this service is providing answers to questions that require human judgment or analysis. The system provides a simple way for users to find qualified experts to give them professional advice.

In one embodiment of this invention, a person ("end user") who requires information from an expert accesses an on-line Exchange located at a remote server. The Exchange verifies the user's identification and account status and allows the user to produce a job request suitable for consideration by an expert. The job request includes a full description of the job to be performed, a range of money the user is willing to spend, how quickly he needs the answer, and any other information necessary to respond to the request. For example, a typical job request might be: "Attached is the text of a letter which may have been written by Catherine the Great. No later than 2:00 PM, Saturday, Jul. 20, 1996 I would like an expert in Russian history to review the letter and provide me with a detailed opinion of at least 1,000 words on whether Catherine the Great was indeed the author, and if not, who is most likely to have been the author." The user can also select "Russian history" from a "subject menu", "fifty to one hundred dollars" from the "price menu," "2:00 PM, Saturday, Jul. 20, 1996" from the "time to complete menu" and "5:00 PM, Friday, Jul. 12, 1996" from the "deadline for submitting bids" menu. The user attaches the text of the letter and e-mails the job request to the Exchange which begins the process of locating a qualified expert.

Once the job request has been sent, the end user waits to receive any bids by the bid deadline specified. As soon as the central controller at the Exchange receives the complete job request, it first searches its proprietary database of Russian history experts. Then, if additional experts are likely to be needed, it activates a search program designed to access and interrogate outside databases of known experts who might be qualified to handle the job request. This outside database search could be done using conventional paper-based directories (such as the American Medical Association's American Medical Directory which lists the doctor's educational background and any board-certified specialty), or with electronic directories available online (such as the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory which contains entries for lawyers and law firms in the United States as well as over 140 foreign countries). In the example above, college course catalogs can be searched for an authority on late 18th century Russia, with special knowledge of Catherine the Great. Once one or more suitable experts are identified, the Exchange sends a message to the expert (e-mail, fax, beeper, phone, etc.) briefly describing the job request and asking the expert if he might be willing to consider bidding on the assignment by 5:00 PM, Friday, Jul. 12, 1996. The name of the client is not revealed. If the expert answers that he might be interested, and the user has placed no pre-qualification restrictions on who can see the job request, the full text of the job request without the user's name or address is forwarded to the expert with a request that he respond with a bid by the bid deadline. Alternatively, the user is notified of each expert's interest and is offered the opportunity to review the expert's qualifications prior to the Exchange sending out the full job request.

If, after reviewing the full job request, an expert is willing to do the job, he submits a formal offer of service, essentially his bid for the job. This bid may also include his particular qualifications for the job and any special conditions which he might require be incorporated before accepting the assignment. These bids are then forwarded to the user who can then decide which experts, if any, he will hire. The end user may also simply have the Exchange select the first bid that fulfills the qualifications for the job. Alternatively, no bid may be acceptable and he may want to continue to negotiate with certain experts. In an effort to minimize off-exchange contact prior to a deal being reached, the user will typically know the experts' names but not their locations or phone numbers. (If a user ultimately does not select a candidate using the Exchange, and does not subsequently use the Exchange for a similar job within a certain number of days, he may be charged a usage fee as a percentage of the total job value or on a fixed fee basis.) The user sends a binding acceptance notification to the Exchange for each expert to be hired. The Exchange in turn notifies the expert(s) that they have been hired and the terms under which the offer of service was accepted.

In another embodiment, candidate experts submit detailed applications to the Exchange in advance of receiving any job requests, providing detailed qualifications in one or more areas of expertise along with third party references. Each application is reviewed by a certification committee familiar with the subject area(s) being applied for, and the candidate is either accepted or rejected as a qualified expert. Once the Exchange contains enough experts in a given subject, each new application may be reviewed by other experts who are already members of the Exchange. This provides a basis for peer review that can be used to maintain assurance of qualifications.

Once an expert is accepted, he is added to the expert database maintained by the Exchange. When an expert is available to answer a question, he logs-in to the Exchange and provides his expert ID. The Exchange then routes any pertinent open job requests to the expert for consideration. When the expert indicates interest in an open job request, he notifies the Exchange and is provided the full request. The expert then formulates his bid, if any, digitally signs it, and e-mails it to the Exchange. Alternatively, the expert may remain off-line, with the Exchange notifying him via mail, fax, beeper, or telephone that there is an open job request for his consideration.

When a job is complete, the expert notifies the Exchange and requests payment. The Exchange verifies that the client is satisfied and executes the prearranged billing methodology between the parties. The Exchange may be holding full or partial payment in escrow which is then released. In the event that the user does not pay for the service provided, the Exchange absorbs the cost of this bad debt.

There are several variations of the present invention that allow for different levels of service, security and communication confidentiality and privacy. One such example is the ability for the user to select from a particular list of experts prior to submitting his request. In this way, the user can select and review the qualifications of the experts and choose the expert or experts that he feels most comfortable with. Using the example above, the user can look through all the historians, searching for one with the most relevant expertise on Catherine the Great. The user can look for historians in a particular subject, or historians with a given amount of experience. He can also review a complete profile of the historian, including journal articles or samples of previous client work. The user might also communicate to the Exchange using encrypted transmission and require that all communication about the job to potential experts also be encrypted to prevent unwanted parties from reviewing the job request materials. (If it were known that a manuscript possibly penned by Catherine the Great had been recently discovered, the market for other Russian manuscripts might be affected.)

Another embodiment of the present invention allows the expert and the user to communicate directly once they are put in contact with each other through the Exchange. This allows the user to receive real-time feedback on requests. For example, once the user has asked about an article and the expert has responded, the user may have more questions about the expert's comments. In a synchronous communication system, the user is able to ask as many follow-up questions as necessary. One way to achieve this is through a standard telephone connection. The Exchange can set up a time to contact the user and expert and call them both to connect them. It is ideally suited to bill the user for the amount of phone time connected, thus making it possible to support an ad hoc pay-per-minute service between two parties, one or both of whom may not know the identity of the other party. Such synchronous communications may also take the form of digital text transmitted between expert and user.

The present invention is also valuable because it facilitates a universally applicable payment protocol for the expert providing advice. In one embodiment, the present invention provides experts immediate payment for services rendered with almost no overhead. The expert does not have to be a bank-approved merchant to process credit card orders, deal with personal checks, cash, or non-payment issues. This allows the expert to maximize his earning potential by focusing on providing quality service.

In another embodiment of the present invention the Exchange manages the billing and payment system automatically. The end user's ability to pay for services is verified prior to the request reaching the expert. In order to receive service, the user must have a credit card, debit card, checking or savings account, or other certified electronic funds available. When a request for services is submitted, the Exchange verifies the end user's balance and refuses to submit the request if the user cannot pay. Once the expert responds to the request, the user's account is immediately debited for the expert's fee.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a grading application is provided. A student looking to improve the quality of his work can send an expert evaluation request to the Exchange. This request includes a copy of the work to be evaluated, such as a book report, biology paper, or set of math questions. The Exchange finds experts to evaluate the work and respond with feedback. For example, if a student is writing a report on Hamlet, the Exchange could find an expert on Shakespeare to evaluate the report. As always, the expert would be paid accordingly for his services.

It is also possible for teachers and professors to take advantage of the service. The homework and reports submitted to a teacher for grading, for example, can be distributed to experts via the Exchange, a kind of digital piecework. A math teacher might have one hundred math tests to grade. The tests are divided up into groups of twenty and distributed among five certified math experts to be evaluated and returned in forty-eight hours. The students' work is sent to the Exchange electronically or via fax for distribution. The teacher can specify the grading methods to be used and the correct answers to the questions. Once the tests are evaluated and returned to the Exchange by the experts, the Exchange reassembles them into one transmission and sends them back to the teacher. The experts are then paid for their services.

The ability to provide anonymity to the end user and expert is another advantage of the present invention. The Exchange can provide full or partial anonymity (e.g., providing no information about the expert, or representing only that he is a member of a specific professional organization) because it acts as a trusted third party messenger between the two parties. It can conceal the identity of both people using very simple or very complex techniques depending on the level of security required.

There are many situations where the end user might not want his identity to be compromised. For example, a company president might want to find out information on how the public sees his company. The president would certainly like honest answers and would like to remain anonymous when making the request. Likewise, an expert who uses the products might not want the company to know his identity because he does a lot of business with the company. In a criminal investigation, the expert witness may not want to reveal his identity for fear of being threatened by the accused. Also, people who have committed a crime might seek legal or moral advice from outside experts.

In other cases, the service itself may want to intentionally withhold the identity of one or both parties to a potential transaction in order to assure that it will be paid for its having brought the parties together. Once one or both parties are able to contact each other outside the service's view, the service has no way to know whether the transaction was consummated privately.

Authentication of the user and the expert is also a benefit of the present invention. Using cryptography and biometrics, the Exchange can authenticate the identity of the parties. The algorithms used can also verify that the expert response and ID have not been tampered with after the response has been sent to the Exchange. Digital signatures, for example, provide both message integrity and authentication of authorship. The present invention also allows for a viable "expert service market" by enabling both users and experts to bid on services. An electronic auction can be implemented which allows users to bid for an expert's time, experts to bid on user requests, and users and experts to negotiate on the price of services. Such services could be sold on a prepaid basis where the expert agreed to provide a certain number of hours of real-time consulting where such consulting was performed through a connection monitored by the Exchange for purposes of accounting and tracking.

In another embodiment of the present invention a quality monitoring feature is provided. If the user is dissatisfied with a response, the Exchange forwards the request and the response to another qualified expert for review. This peer review either accepts or rejects the response, and appropriate action is taken. For example, if the response is accepted, the end user is notified that the response is correct and accurate. If the response is rejected, the end user is refunded or offered an alternate expert, and the expert is notified that his response was inadequate.

The present invention enjoys the advantage of not requiring proprietary software. Any communications tool that conforms to the standards published by the Exchange is capable of using the service. Simply reaching the service's website on the Internet, for example, allows for any person capable of receiving e-mail to use the service. Standardized encryption techniques, including public key protocols can be used to ensure privacy and message integrity. Furthermore, since the service is designed to reach out and find experts, a party can use the service and be paid in digital cash or wire transfer without ever having first registered with the service in any way.

It is the goal of the present invention to provide a robust system which matches users' requests with expert answers. The invention provides various methods of communication, commerce and security for the expert and the end user. The power of a central controller at an Exchange to maintain billing, collection, authentication and anonymity makes the present invention an improvement over conventional systems which do not have such an arrangement of elements. By combining various arrangements of these elements into one system, the present invention makes the finding, selling and transferring of expert advice fast, simple, efficient and market competitive.

Applications of the Invention

In order to clarify the application of the present invention, the following examples demonstrate potential needs of end users.

1. I want a draft of an academic paper on quantum mechanics reviewed anonymously by three qualified academics not located in the U.S. The answers, which are due by July 15, should be at least 500 words and must explain the three points with which the reviewers most agree and disagree.

2. I am a businessman in the steel salvage business with a question as to how to handle a personnel problem. I would like my question answered by a personnel professional at a Fortune 1000 company who is not in the steel business and who has dealt with the same or similar problem at least five times in their own company and can thus give me a range of possible results based on his own experience. I am willing to pay $100 for answers of at least 250 words. Anonymity is acceptable, but I will pay an extra $100 if the professional is identified to me, and I am allowed to call the professional in his off hours.

3. I am an attorney who is seeking other businesses who have had a problem with the XYZ company's plastic products. I will pay $50 for each documented example of problems you have experienced first hand, up to a maximum of 100 cases.

4. I am looking to decode a hieroglyphic unearthed on a site in Israel. I will pay $50 for each solution of at least 10 words, and $500 for the complete solution. Answers will be accepted from four candidates who send me their credentials.

5. I have 1,000 English literature final exams that I need graded. Each exam is composed of ten short essay questions. Tests and answers can be e-mailed to you in groups of twenty exams, and must be graded and returned via e-mail no later than Jun. 10, 1997. I will pay $2.00 per graded exam. Graders must be practicing English teachers at the college level and follow the grading guidelines which will be sent to you.

6. To all people who have eaten at my restaurant, I will pay you $5.00 for a 100 word description of how to improve my service or my menu. (Limit 50 people.)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the central controller.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment in which the computing resources of the central controller are distributed over a number of servers.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an exemplary expert interface.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an exemplary user interface.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment showing how an end user request is generated.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment showing the initial processing of an end user request.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of transmitting the end user request to the appropriate experts.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment showing the development of an expert answer.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment for compensating experts and billing end users.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary compensation method employing credit card payment.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary compensation method employing bank checks.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary compensation method employing electronic fund transfers.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary compensation method employing the transfer of digital cash.

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary embodiment for allowing end users to select experts.

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of how experts receive and respond to end user requests after being selected by users.

FIGS. 17, 18, 19, and 20 illustrates an exemplary embodiment for synchronous communications between an expert and an end user.

FIG. 17 illustrates an embodiment where the end user connects to an online service and is assigned a message window.

FIG. 18 illustrates an embodiment of the end user interacting with a message window.

FIG. 19 illustrates an embodiment showing how the expert connects to an online service and enters a message window.

FIG. 20 illustrates an embodiment of the expert interacting with a message window.

FIGS. 21, 22, 23, and 24 illustrate an exemplary embodiment for grading exams of the present invention.

FIG. 25 illustrates an exemplary authentication process using symmetric keys.

FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary authentication process using asymmetric keys.

FIG. 27 illustrates an exemplary authentication process using digital signatures.

FIG. 28 illustrates an exemplary authentication process using hash functions.

FIG. 29 illustrates an exemplary embodiment using anonymous mix.

FIGS. 30, 31, 32, and 33 illustrate an exemplary embodiment of how end users and experts may negotiate during their transactions. FIGS. 34 and 35 illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the quality assurance feature of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The method and apparatus of the present invention will now be discussed with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention includes end user interface 500, central controller 200, associated databases, and expert interface 400. The present invention identifies the appropriate expert, supervises the distribution of requests to the appropriate experts, and supplies timely answers to the end user. Thus, a person looking for expert knowledge can receive it in a simple, cost and time effective manner.

System Architecture

The system architecture of a first embodiment of the apparatus and method of the present invention is illustrated with reference to FIGS. 1 through 5. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus of the present invention comprises expert interface 400, central controller 200, and end user interface 500 (collectively the "nodes"). Each node is connected via an Internet connection using a public switched phone network 110, such as those provided by a local or regional telephone operating company. Connection may also be provided by dedicated data lines, cellular, Personal Communication Systems ("PCS"), microwave, or satellite networks. Expert interface 400 and user interface 500 are the input and output gateways for communications with central controller 200.

Using the above components, the present invention provides a method and apparatus to receive questions or inquiries requiring judgmental analysis, identify qualified experts, transmit such inquiries to them, and forward corresponding answers to the end user. Through the method and apparatus of the present invention, end users can efficiently select the qualifications of the experts, and receive verification of the experts' qualifications.

As shown in FIG. 2, central controller 200 includes central processor (CPU) 205, cryptographic processor 210, RAM 215, ROM 220, payment processor 230, billing processor 225, clock 235, operating system 240, network interface 245, and data storage device 250.

A conventional personal computer or computer workstation with sufficient memory and processing capability may be used as central controller 200. In one embodiment it operates as a web server, both receiving and transmitting data inquiries generated by end users. Central controller 200 must be capable of high volume transaction processing, performing a significant number of mathematical calculations in processing communications and database searches. A Pentium microprocessor such as the 100 MHz P54C, commonly manufactured by Intel Inc., may be used for CPU 205. This processor employs a 32-bit architecture. Equivalent processors include the Motorola 120 MHz PowerPC 604 or Sun Microsystem's 166 MHz UltraSPARC-I.

An MC68HC16 microcontroller, commonly manufactured by Motorola Inc., may be used for cryptographic processor 210. Equivalent processors may also be used. This microcontroller utilizes a 16-bit multiply-and-accumulate instruction in the 16 MHz configuration and requires less than one second to perform a 512-bit RSA private key operation. Cryptographic processor 210 supports the authentication of communications from both the experts and end users, as well as allowing for anonymous transactions. Cryptographic processor 210 may also be configured as part of CPU 205. Other commercially available specialized cryptographic processors include VLSI Technology's 33MHz 6868 or Semaphore Communications' 40 MHz Roadrunner284.

Referring again to FIG. 2, billing processor 225 and payment processor 230 comprise conventional microprocessors (such as the Intel Pentium), supporting the transfer and exchange of payments, charges, or debits, attendant to the method of the apparatus. Either processor (225 or 230) may also be configured as part of CPU 205. Processing of credit card transactions by these processors may be supported with commercially available software, such as the Secure Webserver manufactured by Open Market, Inc. This server software transmits credit card numbers electronically over the Internet to servers located at the Open Market headquarters where card verification and processing is handled. Their Integrated Commerce Service provides back-office services necessary to run Web-based businesses. Services include online account statements, order-taking and credit card payment authorization, credit card settlement, automated sales tax calculations, digital receipt generation, account-based purchase tracking, and payment aggregation for low-priced services.

Data storage device 250 may include hard disk magnetic or optical storage units, as well as CD-ROM drives or flash memory. Data storage device 250 contains databases used in the processing of transactions in the present invention, including expert database 255, end user database 260, end user request database 265, expert answer database 270, payment database 275, billing database 280, expert qualifications database 285, and cryptographic key database 290. In a preferred embodiment database software such as Oracle7, manufactured by Oracle Corporation, is used to create and manage these databases.

Expert database 255 maintains data on the experts, including name, address, private key information, email addresses, physical addresses, payment preferences, rates, availability standards, voice mail addresses, expert profile 155, biographies, past expert answers 130, and respective subject areas of expertise. Expert profile 155 includes automatic bid amounts, minimum completion times, acceptable price ranges, and the like. Expert database 255 includes rating information generated by end users, as well as expert address 145, which is used to direct communications to the expert. Expert address 145 comprises a phone number, web page URL, bulletin board address, pager number, telephone number, email address, voice mail address, facsimile number, or any other way to contact the expert. Expert database 255 also stores all bid requests 160 and bid offers 165 generated by the expert. Advertising data generated by the expert may also be stored in this database.

End user database 260 maintains data on end users, such as name, address, phone number, ID number, email address, payment preferences, past system usage, private key information, etc. It also contains end user profile 150, which stores preferences for required response time, acceptable qualification levels, acceptable price levels, automatic bid amounts, and the like. It also contains copies of each bid request 160 and bid offer 165 generated by the end user.

End user request database 265 includes all end user requests 120 received by central controller 200, indexed by subject. A unique tracking number is also stored for each end user request 120. End user request database 265 also stores the grading request 125, which is a set of questions and answers generated in the grading embodiment. All requests 115 are also stored in this database.

Expert answer database 270 archives all expert answers 130 received by central controller 200. This database is indexed by expert answer 130 tracking number.

Payment database 275 and billing database 280 track all commercial transactions, as well as payment and billing preferences. These databases are valuable in the event of complaints by both end users and experts regarding payment, because an audit trail can be produced.

Expert qualifications database 285 maintains expert qualifications 140 on the expert's professional, academic, and industry qualifications, such as licenses, degrees, publications, experience, certifications, professional education, skill sets, languages, location, response times, rates, resume, etc. These qualifications may be stored in multimedia form (e.g. text, video, audio) and transmitted to end users looking for further qualification data about an expert. In an alternative embodiment, expert qualifications database 285 and expert database 255 can be combined into a single database.

In order to facilitate cryptographic functions, there is cryptographic key database 290 which stores both symmetric and asymmetric keys. These keys are used by cryptographic processor 210 for encrypting and decrypting all end user requests 120 and expert answers 130, as well as message traffic such as bid amounts or offers and acceptances of work. Audit database 295 stores transactional information that may be retrieved for later analysis. Text data from chat rooms might be stored in this database, for example, so that end user complaints about service can be independently verified.

Network interface 245 is the gateway to communicate with end users and experts through respective end user interface 500 and expert interface 400. Conventional internal or external modems may serve as network interface 245. Network interface 245 supports modems at a range of baud rates from 1200 upward, but may combine such inputs into a T1 or T3 line if more bandwidth is required. In a preferred embodiment, network interface 245 is connected with the Internet and/or any of the commercial online services such as America Online, CompuServe, or Prodigy, allowing end users access from a wide range of online connections. Several commercial email servers include the above functionality. NCD Software manufactures "Post.Office", a secure server-based electronic mail software package designed to link people and information over enterprise networks and the Internet. The product is platform independent and utilizes open standards based on Internet protocols. Users can exchange messages with enclosures such as files, graphics, video and audio. The system also supports multiple languages. Alternatively, network interface 245 may be configured as a voice mail interface web site, BBS, or email address.

While the above embodiment describes a single computer acting as the central controller, those skilled in the art will realize that the functionality can be distributed over a plurality of computers. In another embodiment, central controller 200 may be configured in a distributed architecture, as shown in FIG. 3, wherein the databases and processors are housed in separate units or locations. Controllers 320 through 340 perform the primary processing functions and contain at a minimum RAM, ROM, and a general processor. Each of these controllers is attached to WAN hub 300 which serves as the primary communication link with the other devices. WAN hub 300 may have minimal processing capability itself, serving primarily as a communications router. Although only three controllers are shown in this embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that an almost unlimited number of controllers may be supported. In such a configuration, each controller is in communication with its constituent parts, but the processor and/or data storage functions are performed by stand-alone units. Payment processor and database 350, billing processor and database 360, and expert/end user database 370 all communicate through WAN hub 300 with controllers 320 through 340. This arrangement yields a more dynamic and flexible system, less prone to catastrophic hardware failures affecting the entire system.

FIGS. 4 and 5 describe expert interface 400 and end user interface 500, respectively. In an exemplary embodiment they are both conventional personal computers having an input device, such as a keyboard, mouse, or conventional voice recognition software package; a display device, such as a video monitor; a processing device such as a CPU; and a network interface such as a modem. Alternatively, expert interface 400 and end user interface 500 may also be voice mail systems, or other electronic or voice communications systems. As will be described further in the following embodiments, devices such as fax machines or pagers are also suitable interfaces.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is described expert interface 400 which includes central processor (CPU) 405, RAM 410, ROM 415, clock 420, video driver 425, video monitor 430, communication port 440, input device 445, modem 450, and data storage device 460. Cryptographic processor 435 and biometric device 455 may be added for stronger authentication as described later.

A Pentium microprocessor such as the 100 MHz P54C described above may be used for CPU 405. Clock 420 is a standard chip-based clock which can serve to timestamp expert answers 130 produced with expert interface 400. Modem 450 may not require high speed data transfer if most expert answers 130 produced are text-based and not too long.

If a cryptographic processor is required, the MC68HC16 microcontroller described above is used. The structure of biometric device 455 will be described below in conjunction with the cryptographic authentication embodiment.

Data storage device 460 is a conventional magnetic based hard disk storage unit, such as those manufactured by Conner Peripherals. Information storage database 470 may be used for archiving expert answers 130, while audit database 480 may be used for recording communications with central controller 200 as well as payment records.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is described end user interface 500 which includes central processor (CPU) 505, RAM 510, ROM 515, clock 520, video driver 525, video monitor 530, cryptographic processor 535, communication port 540, input device 545, modem 550, and data storage device 560. All of these components may be identical to those described in FIG. 4.

There are many commercial software applications that can enable the communications required by expert interface 400 or end user interface 500, the primary functionality being message creation and transmission. Eudora Pro manufactured by Qualcomm Incorporated, for example, provides editing tools for the creation of messages as well as the communications tools to route the message to the appropriate electronic address.

Asynchronous Communications Embodiment

In one embodiment of the present invention, communications between end users and experts take place asynchronously. The end user creates an end user request 120, transmits it to central controller 200, and then disconnects from the network. The expert generates an expert answer 130, transmits it to central controller 200, which then transmits it to the end user. The end user and expert do not communicate in real time.

With reference to FIG. 6, there is described the process by which the end user formulates end user request 120. The end user first creates a request 115 at step 600, such as a question which requires human judgement, evaluation, analysis, etc. A small business owner, for example, might want to learn new strategies for lowering his tax bill. Multiple questions may also be bundled into one request 115. At step 610, the end user converts request 115 into electronic format, if necessary. Once converted, the end user attaches his name or a unique user ID number to request 115 at step 620. This ID number is received from central controller 200 when the end user registers for the service, or is chosen by the end user and then registered with central controller 200 by phone. Central controller 200 maintains a database of end user ID numbers in end user database 260, and issues (or allows) only unique numbers. If less security is required, the user's telephone number could serve as the ID number since it has the advantages of being both unique and easily remembered.

At step 630, the end user attaches criteria 1 17 to request 115. At step 640, both the user ID and criteria 117 are combined with request 115, producing a complete end user request 120. As shown at step 635 in FIG. 6, criteria 117 include at least one of the following: price, time frame required for answer, qualifications of the expert, subject, geographic location, etc. This information is used by central controller 200 to route end user request 120 to experts meeting criteria 117. Criteria 117 are searchable; thus central controller 200 searches expert database 255 for appropriate experts to answer end user request 120 based on criteria 117. Criteria 117 will typically describe the required subject area of the expert, as well as the level of expertise necessary to answer end user request 120. Sample subject areas include medicine, law, mathematics, car repair, multimedia editing, etc. Within a given subject there may be many levels, such as ten levels of car repair expertise. There may be a specific format for criteria 117, requiring the end user to use a given set of words and symbols such as "PRICE<=200 and SUBJECT=Biology and QUALIFICATIONS=level 4 and RESPONSE TIME<=2.0 hours." The end user may also designate price, response time, and payment terms as criteria 117 of end user request 120.

Criteria 117 are met by expert qualifications 140. As part of the registration process for candidate experts, their expert qualifications 140 are established by central controller 200. To be a level four patent attorney, for example, the expert might have to submit a copy of his bar results, and prove that he has had at least five years of work experience in patent law. He might also be required to submit references for three recent clients. In one embodiment, a certification means is provided whereby central controller 200 takes a more proactive role by searching databases for expert qualifications. Using a set of predetermined instructions, central controller 200 first establishes the subject of criteria 117. This subject is then correlated with an appropriate database of experts. A subject of "law," for example, is correlated with legal directories while a subject of "medical" is correlated with medical directories. This database is then queried with the candidate's information, allowing the system to certify the qualifications of a candidate expert. With a subject of "law," for example, an appropriate database is the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory which contains over 900,000 entries for lawyers and law firms in the United States as well as over 140 foreign countries. A search is performed using the name of the candidate expert in order to see if there is a listing. This search could be performed automatically for every candidate requesting certification of legal qualifications. If the candidate expert represents a field for which there is no online database available, more general databases could be used. A writer, for example, might claim to have written articles for several major newspapers about trends in the pharmaceutical industry. These qualifications are easily certified by searching Lexis/Nexis for those particular newspapers for samples of his work. Individual companies could provide access to their own in-house personnel databases. A big six accounting firm, for example, could allow limited access to the names of current and past employees, allowing central controller 200 to automate the verification of employment history for many accountants.

Alternatively, a candidate expert might submit expert qualifications 140 for review by a committee of higher level experts. In order to be approved as a level four patent attorney, for example, an expert might have to receive the approval of a committee of level five patent attorneys. This committee would be selected by central controller 200. In this way, the burden of qualification falls primarily on the experts themselves, not on central controller 200. A hierarchy of experts is created, similar to the digital certificate authorities used for verifying public keys in cryptographic protocols. If each expert has a unique cryptographic key, the identity of each higher level expert approving him may be incorporated into this key. Every expert answer 130 that the expert creates, therefore, would contain information about the experts who approved him. Communications with the reviewing experts are performed by the same method and apparatus as described in this asynchronous communications embodiment.

In another embodiment, expertise is provided not by a human expert, but by a conventional expert system, neural network, or software using artificial intelligence. An expert system specializing in the diagnosis of blood disorders, for example, could perform key word searches on end user requests 120. These key words would become the input parameters upon which the expert system would base its decision.

Referring again to FIG. 6, end user request 120 is then transmitted to central controller 200 at step 650. This transfer occurs via electronic mail, although the system also supports voice mail, facsimile, or postal mail transmissions of end user requests 120. With voice mail, the end user calls central controller 200 and leaves end user request 120 in audio form. These end user requests 120 may be transcribed into digital text at central controller 200, or made available to experts in the same audio format. In a postal mail embodiment, central controller 200 acts more like a router, directing end user requests 120 to the proper experts, creating multiple copies of end user request 120 if necessary. End user requests 120 may also be posted to bulletin boards or web pages operated by central controller 200. In a web-based embodiment, end users may fill out an electronic form built into the web page of central controller 200.

It is important to note that the generation and transmission of end user request 120 does not require the use of proprietary software. Conventional electronic mail software such as Eudora Pro, for example, is capable of providing editing tools for the creation of messages as well as the communications tools to route the message to the appropriate electronic address. As long as the messages conform to the standards established by central controller 200, an electronic mail program is capable of generating and transmitting end user request 120. The standard would specify the address to send the message to, the information to be contained in the subject heading, and the processing order of the body of the message. The first line of the body of the electronic mail, for example, is the ID number of the end user. The second line is their name, the third line is the subject, the fourth is the qualifications required, and the fifth line is the price. Standard forms could also be electronically mailed to the end user, allowing him to simply fill in the blanks and return end user request 120 to central controller 200. Similar forms and standards could be applied to fax and postal mail transmissions.

Referring now to FIG. 7, end user request 120 is received, stored, and processed by central controller 200 before being routed to the appropriate experts. At step 700, end user request 120 is received from the end user. Central controller 200 supports all transmission methods described at step 650, allowing for a wide variety of formats of incoming end user requests 120. Some formats may be changed, however, before further processing by central controller 200. End user requests 120 transmitted by mail in paper form, for example, may be scanned-in and digitized, using optical character recognition software to create digital text. Once end user request 120 has been received, it is stored in end user request database 265 where it is assigned a unique tracking number.

After being stored at step 700, end user request 120 may go through a series of processing steps. One step, if necessary, is language translation, either creating a standard language that all end user requests 120 must be written in, or translating to the language most appropriate for the experts to which it will be sent. This translation is provided by language experts registered with the system, or by automatic translation software such as Systran Professional, manufactured by Systran Software. Twelve bidirectional language combinations are available, including English to/from French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese. Another step, if necessary, is to edit for spelling or grammatical errors. End user request 120 might also be reviewed for clarity. Any end user request 120 with an unclear question would be returned to the end user for clarification.

Another processing step searches for criteria 117. If no criteria 117 have been included, end user request 120 is sent back to the end user for resubmission. Alternatively, the end user can also provide criteria 117 by selecting the subject of end user request 120 directly via an online connection as described later in the interactive selection embodiment. If the end user does not want to provide criteria 117, end user request 120 may be classified by searching request 115 for predetermined keywords or subject matter designators stored in subject database 297. These keywords are then used for generating criteria 117. A request 115 for real estate valuations in Finland, for example, might be assigned criteria 117 of "SUBJECT=Real Estate." Subject database 297 includes a list of key words associated with the subject of real estate, such as land, buildings, zoning, etc. Presence of one or more of these keywords in request 115 triggers a classification of request 115 as real estate.

There are a number of commercially available software packages which perform these types of searches, such as Semantic Networks by Excalibur Technologies Corporation. The software provides the ability to retrieve approximations of search queries and has a natural tolerance for errors in both input data and query terms, as well as providing a high level of confidence that searches will be successful regardless of errors in spelling of the data being searched. Excalibur's baseline semantic network supports multi-layered dictionary structures that enable integration of specialized reference works for legal, medical, finance, engineering and other disciplines. Excalibur's RetrievalWare enables developers to build information retrieval solutions for the full spectrum of digital information, including text, document images and multimedia data types, allowing for indexing and retrieving of digital images based on their objective content. These components enable pattern recognition-based image retrieval applications that automatically recognize certain types of visual information and provide extensive image management capabilities.

Before searching for the appropriate expert to respond to end user request 120, central controller 200 searches end user request database 265 at step 710 for similar end user requests 120 so that unnecessary duplication of work by experts is not performed. If end user request 120 relates to tax strategies for small businesses and has been asked before, there may be no need for having an expert create a new expert answer 130. It is simpler and cheaper to use the existing expert answer 130. Conventional search algorithms are used to search end user request database 265 for duplicate or similar end user requests 120. Examples of such string search algorithms include Knuth-Morris-Pratt, Rabin-Karp, Boyer-Moore, and Baeza-Yates-Gonnet. For reference, one of ordinary skill in the art may refer to Thomas H. Cormen, et al, Introduction to Algorithms, (MIT Press, 1990). Such algorithms could be used to determine a match so that end user requests 120 using different formats and sentence structure can be found. If a similar end user request 120 is found at step 720, then the end user is given the option of purchasing the associated expert answer 130 at step 730. If the end user wants to buy it, expert answer 130 is transmitted to the end user at step 740. A bill is sent to the end user at step 750, and royalty payments are added to the account of the expert who generated expert answer 130. These royalty payments may be a percentage of the price of the original end user request 120, a fixed payment per expert answer 130 used, or a combination of both. Royalty payments might decline over time, with a predetermined maximum royalty period.

Referring again to FIG. 7, if a similar end user request 120 is not found at step 720, or if the end user decides not to buy expert answer 130 at step 730, then central controller 200 begins to search for appropriate candidate experts satisfying criteria 117. At step 760, criteria 117 of end user request 120 are extracted and used as parameters for a search of expert database 255. At step 770, a list of experts is generated whose qualifications meet criteria 117. In a simple example, criteria 117 is "SUBJECT=mathematics and LEVEL=4 and PAPERS=number theory." Central controller 200 searches expert qualifications database 285 for all records with expert qualifications 140 field value of level four mathematician. From this subset of experts, the database field for publications is then searched, eliminating all experts who have not published in number theory. The resulting list of experts satisfies criteria 117. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are many database search techniques in addition to those protocols described above. Fuzzy logic protocols, expert systems, and other systems using artificial intelligence may also be used to search the database and identify experts who have expert qualifications 140 which correspond to criteria 117.

The search for qualified experts is not limited to those experts registered with the system, however. External databases of known experts may also be queried to find qualified experts. The above mentioned Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, for example, could be searched for a particular specialist. When criteria 117 requires an attorney with experience in medical malpractice, for example, these keywords are entered into the database to produce a list of candidate experts. These experts may be added to the list of experts generated from registered experts. When no database currently exists for a particular group of experts, World Wide Web search tools such as Alta Vista may be employed. By typing in a few key words, resumes and personal home pages of appropriate candidate experts are produced. A message may then be sent to this list of experts indicating that there may be work available for them.

The resulting list of candidate experts may also be reduced after examining expert profiles 155 stored in expert database 255. These expert profiles 155 contain rules or preferences regarding characteristics of end user requests 120 sent to the expert. For example, expert profile 155 (described in the selection embodiment) might indicate that he does not want any end user request 120 transmitted to him that pays less than one hundred dollars. Or he may indicate that no end user requests 120 are to be transmitted to him if they require a completion time of less than one hour, unless the subject is fluid dynamics. These requirements are codified into rules and relationships which can be executed by central controller 200, narrowing the list of target experts.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is illustrated a method for transmitting end user request 120 to the appropriate experts. At step 800, central controller 200 generates a price for end user request 120 and attaches it. This price is based on several factors including the expected length of time to produce expert answer 130, complexity of expert answer 130, the qualifications of the expert, and criteria 117. End user request 120 and price are transmitted to the qualifying experts at step 810, using expert address 145 contained in expert database 255. End user request 120 is transmitted by e-mail, postal delivery, phone, pager, beeper, radio or television broadcast, etc. Alternatively, a combination of these methods is used. A message might be sent to the expert's beeper, for example, telling him to check his email for the complete end user request 120.

If the expert does not accept the job at step 820, he transmits a denial to central controller 200 at step 830, or simply does not respond. If the expert accepts at step 820, he sends an acceptance message to central controller 200 at step 840. Central controller 200 tracks acceptances, transmitting end user request 120 back to the end user at step 870 for resubmission if no acceptances are received within a given period of time. If acceptances have been received at step 850, end user request 120 is transmitted at step 860 to the first responding expert.

FIG. 9 illustrates the concluding phase of the process in which the expert develops expert answer 130. After receiving end user request 120, the expert develops expert answer 130 at step 900. At step 910, the expert attaches his expert ID and then transmits expert answer 130 and expert ID to central controller 200 at step 920. Central controller 200 adds a tracking number to expert answer 130 and stores it in expert answer database 270. The end user is billed at step 930. As will be described in the billing embodiment of the present invention, end user payment may take the form of a credit card transaction, the direct transfer of funds into his bank account, or other preferred methods. After billing the end user, expert answer 130 is transmitted to the end user at step 940. At step 950, the expert is paid for expert answer 130 produced. After reviewing expert answer 130, the end user may be prompted by central controller 200 to provide reference data such as a rating from one to ten, representing the perceived quality of expert answer 130. This rating is transmitted to central controller 200 where it is stored in expert database 255. These ratings are made available to other end users as reference data, providing another parameter for the selection process. These ratings are also used for quality control purposes, with written warnings provided to experts whose average ratings dropped below an established level.

Billing Embodiment

FIGS. 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 describe an exemplary payment and billing system of the present invention. End users are billed for expert answers 130 received, and experts are compensated for expert answers 130 produced. The system is capable of ensuring that experts receive payment for their work, whether or not the end user pays. This provides additional incentive for experts to register with the system, as the possibility of bad debt has been eliminated since central controller 200 takes on the risk of not collecting from end users. End user invoicing and expert payment is described using conventional credit card electronic charges, checks, Electronic Funds Transfer ("EFT"), or digital cash. These payment methods are meant to be merely illustrative, however, as there are many equivalent payment methods commonly known in the art which may also be used.

In FIG. 10, the billing process is initiated at step 1000 when central controller 200 transmits expert answer 130 to the end user (refer to FIG. 9, steps 930, 940 and 950). Once the billing process is started, the price and tracking number of end user request 120 is sent to billing database 280 at step 1010. At step 1020, there are two billing protocols that can be used. The first, cash on delivery, requires that the end user pay before receiving expert answer 130. The second protocol is a credit system in which the end user pays at the end of the billing period. In the cash on delivery protocol, billing processor 225 generates a bill prior to sending expert answer 130 to the end user, proceeding immediately to step 1030. One exemplary embodiment of a payment guarantee means of the present invention is described as follows. Central controller 200 requires the end user to prepay for at least part of the services received, forcing the end user to keep a minimum balance of money in order to be eligible to use the system. Central controller 200 then automatically deducts the price of expert answer 130 from this escrow account before expert answer 130 is transmitted to the end user. Transaction records and balance information is stored in billing database 280. Rather than actually depositing the money with central controller 200, the end user might instead be required to merely have sufficient credit available. A credit card on file with central controller 200, for example, is checked before end user request 120 is sent to the expert. If sufficient credit remains in the account, the expert is told to complete expert answer 130. If credit available is not sufficient to cover the price of expert answer 130, the end user is required to provide another credit card number. For EFT transfers, the end user's account information is stored in billing database 280, enabling central controller 200 to check the account balance before providing expert answer 130 to the end user.

In a credit protocol, processor 225 searches billing database 280 by end user ID at the end of each billing period and totals the amount owed by each end user. It should be noted that in this credit protocol, while the end user does not pay until the end of the billing period, the expert may still receive payment immediately. Central controller 200 pays the expert at step 870 when end user request 120 is sent to the expert, or at step 930 at which point central controller 200 has already received expert answer 130. At step 1030, the preferred billing method is retrieved from end user database 260, and the appropriate billing module (credit card, EFT, check, electronic cash), is initiated at step 1040. In an alternate embodiment, the end user does not pay for expert answer 130 unless he is satisfied with it. This embodiment allows the end user to examine expert answer 130 for a given period of time, then he sends an authorization of payment to central controller 200 if he is satisfied. If the end user is not satisfied, a rejection message is sent to central controller 200 and an expert review process is started as described in the customer satisfaction embodiment.

The process of paying the expert begins at step 1050 when the price and tracking number of end user request 120 are sent to payment database 275, with the ID of the expert extracted from expert answer 130 and stored in paymen