| 6243687 |
Kiosk systems and methods for issuing a card storing electronic coupons, after receiving data about a customer |
| Jun-5-2001 |
A system for dispensing and redeeming electronic discount coupons in a store. A card-dispensing kiosk collects information from a customer and subsequently issues a "smart card" for storing electronic... |
| 6243450 |
Pay-per use for data-network-based public access services |
| Jun-5-2001 |
An apparatus for vending public multimedia services has a telephone, a multimedia terminal, a payment receiver for receiving an authorization to accept charges for enabling use of at least one of the telephone... |
| 6240402 |
Charge allocation in a multi-user network |
| May-29-2001 |
A communication network includes a communication monitoring point arranged to monitor user identifiers in source/destination identifier fields to determine a charging scheme. |
| 6230150 |
Vending machine evaluation network |
| May-8-2001 |
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for automatically testing, monitoring and managing the pricing and other sales information associated with products sold by vending machines. A price or other sales... |
| 6226625 |
Value sharing method for determining pricing |
| May-1-2001 |
A method for determining the pricing at which a provider will provide and offering of goods and services to a customer. Under the method, at least one area of the customer's business in which using the... |
| 6219930 |
Apparatus and method of use for calculating an estimate of damaged surface repair cost |
| Apr-24-2001 |
A method of use and apparatus for estimating repair cost, particularly applicable to cost estimation of interspaced defect damaged vehicle surfaces. The method of use of the present invention provides... |
| 6219656 |
Memory integrity for meters |
| Apr-17-2001 |
An improved process ensures to the extent possible that the usage memory of an electronically-based electricity meter is always in a state that most recent data may be retrieved. Two separate areas or... |
| 6219654 |
Method, system and program product for performing cost analysis of an information technology implementation |
| Apr-17-2001 |
A method, system and program product for determining the cost to an enterprise of a proposed information technology solution implementation is described herein. A detailed evaluation of the information... |
| 6219653 |
Freight calculation system and method of operation |
| Apr-17-2001 |
A freight calculation system includes a seller client, a buyer client, and a platform coupled to the seller client and the buyer client using a communication network. The seller client generates freight... |
| 6216117 |
Automated network sizing and pricing system for satellite network |
| Apr-10-2001 |
An automated satellite network sizing and pricing workbook (15) implemented on a computer system (10) that is programmed to execute electronic spreadsheet software. The workbook (15) is comprised of a... |
| 6216113 |
Auditron access printer |
| Apr-10-2001 |
An electronic network transaction recording system for accumulating billing data for printing machines interconnected to multiple work stations on the network. A network administrator includes a memory... |
| 6216112 |
Method for software distribution and compensation with replenishable advertisements |
| Apr-10-2001 |
A method and system for offering and distributing software wherein advertisements are incorporated into the software product, wherein author compensation is based on advertisement generated revenues. In... |
| 6216108 |
Service business management system |
| Apr-10-2001 |
The invention provides a micro processor, an input device for entering job costing data and job parameter information, an output device such as a printer to generate contract proposals and/or management... |
| 6212506 |
Per call real time billing display |
| Apr-3-2001 |
Real-time, per call charge information is provided to a subscriber for calls in progress using a communications system having a service interface supporting the charge display feature. A repository of... |
| 6208977 |
Accounting and billing based on network use |
| Mar-27-2001 |
A method and a system determines billing information for use of a network. For a data transmission on a path between a pair of node locations, the price for the transmission depends, inter alia, on the... |
| 6199054 |
Automated software metering of digital payloads |
| Mar-6-2001 |
A system monitors a data payload that is being transmitted in a secure form over the Internet and provides rate computations for such payloads based on the size of the data. A data container may be implemented... |
| 6199046 |
Method system and article of manufacture for performing real time currency conversion |
| Mar-6-2001 |
A currency converter consisting of a source of exchange rate information with either an object performing the role of currency selection, exchange rate information retrieval, and price display, or objects... |
| 6192350 |
Method of usage-dependent determination of costs in making communication lines |
| Feb-20-2001 |
The process for usage-dependent determination of costs in making communication links between at least three communication facilities (12) of a group or network (10), which are connected with each other... |
| 6169989 |
Method and apparatus for parallel profile matching in a large scale webcasting system |
| Jan-2-2001 |
A method and apparatus for efficiently matching a large collection of user profiles against a large volume of data in a webcasting system. The invention generally includes in one embodiment four steps... |
| 6169979 |
Computer-assisted sales system for utilities |
| Jan-2-2001 |
A computer-based system for generating customized proposals relating to consumption and cost of utilities. The system receives and stores information related to a utility company's services and conservation... |
| 6167388 |
System and method for the selection of heating equipment |
| Dec-26-2000 |
The present invention relates to an automated system for specifying radiant tube heating systems. The automated specification system calculates the heat loss for a structure and adjusts the heat loss value... |
| 6161100 |
System for billing individual units of a multi-unit building for water use and for water related energy use |
| Dec-12-2000 |
A system for billing individual units of a multi-unit building for water use or water related energy use wherein the multi-unit building is supplied water from a common source and the individual unit has... |
| 6144893 |
Method and computer system for controlling an industrial process by analysis of bottlenecks |
| Nov-7-2000 |
A method and computer system for controlling an industrial process are disclosed. The industrial process has problems which adversely effect its performance. A personal computer is programmed with a database... |
| 6141652 |
Operating apparatus |
| Oct-31-2000 |
A method of operating apparatus for value, the apparatus being connected to a telecommunications channel, includes the steps of transmitting a forward message from the apparatus to a remote location via... |
| 6131085 |
Answer collection and retrieval system governed by a pay-off meter |
| Oct-10-2000 |
The invention is a set of processes for improving the interface of a self-organizing database. This type of database stores both questions and answers. The improved interface processes enable a user who... |
| 6119109 |
Information distribution system and billing system used for the information distribution system |
| Sep-12-2000 |
An information distribution system provides information requested from a user for the user through an information communication medium. The information distribution system comprises a billing processor... |
| 6108647 |
Method, apparatus and programmed medium for approximating the data cube and obtaining approximate answers to queries in relational databases |
| Aug-22-2000 |
A novel and unique method of approximating the data cube and summarizing database data in order to provide quick and approximate answers to aggregate queries by precomputing a summary of the data cube... |
| 6105014 |
Automated package shipping machine |
| Aug-15-2000 |
A system for accepting and storing items for subsequent pickup by a commercial carrier includes a storage area which is defined by an outer housing, and a customer interface area that includes a weighing... |
| 6105000 |
Financial rebate program for utilities based on degree days |
| Aug-15-2000 |
A financial rebate program provides a rebate to purchasers or sellers of energy such as electrical power and natural gas for a deviation from expected weather conditions. In one example, the buyer of a... |
| 6101504 |
Method for reducing semaphore contention during a wait to transfer log buffers to persistent storage when performing asynchronous writes to database logs using multiple insertion points |
| Aug-8-2000 |
A method in a symmetric multi-processor computer system for increasing database transaction log performance by reducing semaphore contention while waiting to transfer the contents of log buffers stored... |
| 6094644 |
Method and apparatus for recording actual time used by a service which makes requests for data |
| Jul-25-2000 |
An apparatus and method for recording actual time used by a service which makes requests for data. The apparatus includes a first timer for recording time during which the service is in operation and a... |
| 6088687 |
Billing procedure and system for data transmission networks |
| Jul-11-2000 |
The invention concerns a device or machine used for payment and electronic currency systems and systems for billing or payment for data transmission in the network. The device or machine can insert, within... |
| 6085247 |
Server operating system for supporting multiple client-server sessions and dynamic reconnection of users to previous sessions using different computers |
| Jul-4-2000 |
A server operating system supports multiple client-server sessions and enables a user to begin a session and later dynamically reconnect to that session even if the user uses two different client computers.... |
| 6085179 |
Method of charging for a communications service, as well as a charge computer, exchange, and communications network |
| Jul-4-2000 |
A method of determining fees for chargeable telecommunications (TK) services, whereby a counting device is used to calculate the amount of charges accumulated by an individual customer during a predetermined... |
| 6078850 |
Method and apparatus for fuel management and for preventing fuel spillage |
| Jun-20-2000 |
A management system for a vehicle having a commodity storage region and traveling along a path having a plurality of geographically-distributed commodity replenishing stations, includes a sensor for measuring... |
| 6076080 |
Forms order entry system |
| Jun-13-2000 |
An order entry system is provided comprising a first computer system, a printing station computer system, a form design repository, a second computer system, a validation engine, and a pricing engine.... |
| 6076079 |
Electronic tip calculator |
| Jun-13-2000 |
An electronic calculating device for conveniently calculating a percentage of a value, as is often performed in a restaurant or bar when calculating a gratuity based on the amount of a bill is provided.... |
| 6073125 |
Token key distribution system controlled acceptance mail payment and evidencing system |
| Jun-6-2000 |
A method for controlled acceptance mail accounting and evidencing, includes creating a mail batch including at least one mail piece having an encrypted indicia printed thereon. The encrypted indicia is... |
| 6073107 |
Parametric software forecasting system and method |
| Jun-6-2000 |
A parametric software estimating system provides a class of user selectable size metrics. At least one of the metrics is adapted specifically for use with proposed object oriented software systems. An... |
| 6070156 |
Providing transaction estimates in a fueling and retail system |
| May-30-2000 |
The present invention provides pre-transaction estimates of the amount of fuel required to fill a vehicle's tank along with the estimated total cost of filling the vehicle's tank. The invention includes... |
| 6070155 |
Integrated automated analysis and repair |
| May-30-2000 |
An integrated highly automated analysis system employs a technician terminal for displaying a plurality of inspection screens, and for entering inspection results. The technician terminal generates an... |
| 6064992 |
Postage meter using two ascending registers in an accounting function |
| May-16-2000 |
A postage meter includes a memory including an ascending credit register to store an accumulated value of credit and an ascending tote register to store an accumulated tote value of postage charge dispensed... |
| 6064981 |
Method for online display and negotiation of cargo rates |
| May-16-2000 |
Freight forwarders and carriers post published rate and discount information for land, sea and air bearing cargo vessels to allow customers the opportunity to evaluate competitive prices, preferably in... |
| 6064970 |
Motor vehicle monitoring system for determining a cost of insurance |
| May-16-2000 |
A method and system of determining a cost of automobile insurance based upon monitoring, recording and communicating data representative of operator and vehicle driving characteristics. The cost is adjustable... |
| 6061669 |
Notification system for access to and printing of proprietary network services |
| May-9-2000 |
A method and system to have network web servers that provide services to pass on the unit costs for each of the services and to have the web client computer track the usage of each service, maintain an... |
| 6061668 |
Control system for pay-per-use applications |
| May-9-2000 |
An integrated electronic system consisting of a network of appliances and machines, such as clothes washers and dryers, vending machines, or other equipment, controlled from a central management computer.... |
| 6061667 |
Modular rating engine, rating system and method for processing rating requests in a computerized rating system |
| May-9-2000 |
The invention comprises a rating engine, system, and method for processing rating requests in a computerized rating system. One aspect of the invention is an object-oriented rating engine operable to receive... |
| 6055504 |
Method and system for accommodating electronic commerce in a communication network capacity market |
| Apr-25-2000 |
A method for accommodating electronic commerce in a communication network capacity market. The method includes the steps of identifying a plurality of players in the communication network capacity market,... |
| 6052671 |
Computerized bill consolidation, billing and payment authorization with remote access to the billing information |
| Apr-18-2000 |
Computerized billing and payment authorization methods and systems are described. In one aspect, a host system includes a database in which information associated with a billable entity from which payment... |
| 6052631 |
Method and system for facilitating vehicle inspection to detect previous damage and repairs |
| Apr-18-2000 |
Computer-based methods and systems for facilitating the inspection of a vehicle to detect the presence of prior damage and problems with previous repair are provided. Exemplary embodiments provide an inspection... |
