Telephone/transaction entry device and system for entering transaction data into databases

Abstract

A data transaction processing system in which transaction data is entered by the user in response to prompts in a template which is tailored to each user application. The template and entered data are accumulated into data transactions which are immediately transmitted upon completion to an external database server for processing and storage. The data transactions are not locally stored for processing, and no conventional operating system is necessary. No local processing needs to be provided, and the only local storage is a flash PROM which stored the control firmware, a flash memory which stores the data streams making up the forms and menus, and a small RAM which operates as an input/output transaction buffer for storing the data streams of the template and the user replies to. the prompts during assembly of a data transaction. The data transaction is received via standard protocols at a database server which, depending upon the application, stores the entire data transaction, explodes the data transaction to produce ancillary records which are then stored, and/or forwards the data transaction or some or all of the ancillary records to other database servers for updating other databases associated with those database servers. Also, in response to requests from the transaction entry device, the database server may return data streams for use in completing the fields in the data transaction or in presenting a menu on the display which was read in from the database server or a remote phone mail system. The transaction entry device is integrated with a telephone and is accessed via a touch screen, an optional keyboard, a magnetic card reader, voice entry, a modem, and the like.

1 - 49 . (canceled)  
     
     
         50 . A method for a two-way communication device having a display and an input interface to interact with a data network, the method comprising: 
 sending a request to a server across a wireless link for access to a resource on said data network, using a resource locator identifying said resource;    receiving over said wireless link a response from said server, said response resulting from said server accessing and transforming said resource to be more compatible with at least one of the two-way communication device and the wireless link, said response including a set of linked pages;    displaying a display screen on said display based on at least one of the pages; and    allowing a user of the two-way communication device to move among said pages using a user input interface without sending an additional request.    
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein said pages include a page specifying a data input to be received from a user through said input interface.  
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein said data input is received through a phone keypad.  
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein said pages include a page specifying selectable choices to be presented on said display for selection.  
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein said selectable choices are selected using a cursor associated with said input interface.  
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein said displaying a display screen on said display comprises: 
 displaying on said display a first user interface defined in a first page of said set of pages; and    wherein the method further comprises allowing a user to move among said pages using said input interface.    
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein, upon receiving said pages, said two-way communication device stores said pages in a memory.  
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein said input interface comprises a plurality of soft keys displayed on said display.  
     
     
         58 . A wireless two-way communication device for communicating across a wireless network, said wireless two-way communication device comprising: 
 a display to display information;    a wireless network interface to communicate across said wireless network; and    a client module running on a processor, said client module to send a request for access to a resource on a data network using a resource locator identifying said resource, said client module receiving a response from said server, said response including a plurality of linked pages, said client module displaying information on said display according to at least one of the pages, said client module allowing a user of the wireless two-way communication device to move among said pages using a user input interface without sending an additional request.    
     
     
         59 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 58 , wherein said pages include a second page specifying data input to be received from a user through said user input interface.  
     
     
         60 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 59 , wherein said user input interface comprises a phone keypad.  
     
     
         61 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 59 , wherein said pages include a third page specifying selectable choices to be presented on said display for selection.  
     
     
         62 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 61 , wherein said selectable choices are selected using a cursor associated with said user input interface.  
     
     
         63 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 59 , wherein said input interface comprises a plurality of soft keys displayed on said display.  
     
     
         64 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 58 , wherein, upon receiving said pages, said two-way communication device stores said pages in a memory and displays information from a page selected from said pages on said display.  
     
     
         65 . A wireless two-way communication device for communicating across a wireless network, said wireless two-way communication device comprising: 
 a display to display information;    a wireless network interface to communicate data across said wireless network; and    a client module running on a processor, to send a request for access to a resource on a data network using a resource locator identifying said resource, said client module further to receive a response from a server, said response being a version of said resource transformed by said server and including a plurality of linked pages, said client module further to display information on said display according to a first page of the plurality of pages, said client module allowing a user of the two-way communication device to move among said pages using a user input interface without sending an additional request.    
     
     
         66 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 65 , wherein, upon receiving said pages, said two-way communication device stores said pages in a memory.  
     
     
         67 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 65 , wherein said pages further include a second page specifying a data input to be received from a user through said user input interface.  
     
     
         68 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 65 , wherein said pages further include a second page specifying selectable choices to be presented on said display for selection.  
     
     
         69 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 68 , wherein said selectable choices are selected using a cursor associated with said user input interface.  
     
     
         70 . A method for a two-way communication device having a display and an interface to interact with a server, the method comprising: 
 sending a request to the server across a wireless link for access to a process operating on said server, using an identifier identifying said process;    receiving over said wireless link a response from said server, said response resulting from said server accessing and transforming said data from said process so as to be compatible with at least one of the two-way communication device and the wireless link, said response including at least one page;    displaying a display screen on said display based on said at least one page; and    allowing a user of the two-way communication device to move from said at least one page to another page using a user input interface without sending an additional request.    
     
     
         71 . The method of  claim 70 , wherein said at least one page includes a page specifying a data input to be received from a user through said input interface.  
     
     
         72 . The method of  claim 71 , wherein said data input is received through a phone keypad.  
     
     
         73 . The method of  claim 70 , wherein said at least one page includes a page specifying selectable choices to be presented on said display for selection.  
     
     
         74 . The method of  claim 73 , wherein said selectable choices are selected using a cursor associated with said input interface.  
     
     
         75 . The method of  claim 70 , wherein said displaying a display screen on said display comprises: 
 displaying on said display a first user interface defined in said at least one page; and    wherein the method further comprises allowing a user to move from said at least one page to another page using said input interface.    
     
     
         76 . The method of  claim 75 , wherein, upon receiving said at least one page, said two-way communication device stores said at least one page in a memory.  
     
     
         77 . The method of  claim 75 , wherein said input interface comprises a plurality of soft keys displayed on said display.  
     
     
         78 . A wireless two-way communication device for communicating across a wireless network, said wireless two-way communication device comprising: 
 a display to display information;    a wireless network interface to communicate across said wireless network; and    client software running on a processor, said client software sending a request for access to a process on a server of said wireless network using an identifier identifying said process, said client software receiving a response from said server, said response including at least one page, said client software displaying information on said display according to said at least one page, said client software allowing a user of the wireless two-way communication device to move from said at least one page to another page using a user input interface without sending an additional request.    
     
     
         79 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 78 , wherein said at least one page includes a second page specifying data input to be received from a user through the user input interface.  
     
     
         80 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 79 , wherein said user input interface comprises a phone keypad.  
     
     
         81 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 79 , wherein said at least one page includes a third page specifying selectable choices to be presented on said display for selection.  
     
     
         82 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 81 , wherein said selectable choices are selected using a cursor associated with said user input interface.  
     
     
         83 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 79 , wherein said input interface comprises a plurality of soft keys displayed on said display.  
     
     
         84 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 78 , wherein, upon receiving said at least one page, said two-way communication device stores said at least one page in a memory and displays information from a page selected from said at least one page on said display.  
     
     
         85 . A wireless two-way communication device for communicating across a wireless network, said wireless two-way communication device comprising: 
 a display to display information;    a wireless network interface to communicate data across said wireless network; and    client software running on a processor, said client software sending a request for access to a process on a server of a data network using a process identifier identifying said process, said client software further receive a response from the server, said response being an output of said process transformed by said server and including a plurality of pages, said client software further displaying information on said display according to a first page of the plurality of pages, said client software allowing a user of the two-way communication device to move among said pages using a user input interface without sending an additional request.    
     
     
         86 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 85 , wherein, upon receiving said pages, said two-way communication device stores said pages in a memory.  
     
     
         87 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 85 , wherein said pages further include a second page specifying a data input to be received from a user through said user input interface.  
     
     
         88 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 85 , wherein said pages further include a second page specifying selectable choices to be presented on said display for selection.  
     
     
         89 . The wireless two-way communication device of  claim 88 , wherein said selectable choices are selected using a cursor associated with said user input interface.  
     
     
         90 . A wireless mobile telephone having a processor, wherein said wireless mobile telephone comprises: 
 a memory;    a display;    a display module coupled to said display wherein said display module drives said display;    a key pad including a plurality of keys;    a keypad module coupled to said keypad wherein upon a user activating a key in said keypad, said keypad module stores information identifying the activated key in said memory;    a network interface module receiving data from and sending data to a data network over a wireless link; and    a client module. executing on said processor, said client module, in response to a signal from said keypad module, processing said stored information identifying the activated key and stores a symbol representing said pressed key in said memory; and    wherein upon completion of data entry, said client module retrieves the symbols in said memory which generates a request including said symbols and a resource locator identifying a resource in a server on said data network to said network interface module for transmission over said wireless link to said server.    
     
     
         91 . A wireless mobile telephone as set forth in  claim 90 , further comprising a form memory comprising one or more forms received from said data network over said wireless link.  
     
     
         92 . A wireless mobile telephone as set forth in  claim 91 , wherein said client module receives said user input, retrieves a form from said form memory in accordance with said user input, and sends said form to said display module for display.  
     
     
         93 . A wireless mobile telephone as set forth in  claim 91 , wherein said form memory includes a form for display for presenting choices for selection by a user.  
     
     
         94 . A method for a wireless mobile telephone, said wireless mobile telephone having a display and an input interface, the method comprising: 
 creating, in a client module executing on a processor in said wireless mobile telephone, a request to a server in a data network, said request specifying a resource locator identifying a resource associated with said server, said server communicating with said wireless mobile telephone over a wireless network, said creating comprising: 
 retrieving said resource locator from a memory in said wireless mobile telephone,  
 generating said request using said resource locator and identification information, and  
 displaying on said display information relating to said request;  
   transmitting said request over said wireless network to said server;    receiving from said server a response over said wireless network; and    processing said response in said client module, to cause information in said response to be displayed on said display.    
     
     
         95 . A computer readable medium including computer program code for execution in a wireless mobile telephone, said wireless mobile telephone having a display and an input interface for interacting with a data network, said computer readable medium comprising: 
 first computer program code for generating a request in said wireless mobile telephone to communicate with a server in said data network;    said request including a resource locator identifying said server, said first computer program code further for retrieving said resource locator from a memory in said wireless mobile telephone, constructing said request using said resource locator and identification information, and displaying on said display status information relating to said request;    second computer program code for transmitting said request over a wireless network;    third computer program code for receiving a response from said server over said wireless network; and    fourth computer program code for displaying said response on said display.    
     
     
         96 . A method for a server interacting with a wireless mobile telephone, said wireless mobile telephone having a display and a keypad, said method comprising: 
 receiving a request over a wireless network from a client module executing in said wireless mobile telephone, said request including a resource locator identifying a resource associated with said server and identification information, said request created by retrieving said resource locator from a memory in said wireless mobile telephone, constructing said request using said resource locator and identification information, and displaying on said display information relating to said request;    processing said identification information;    generating in said server a response to said request; and    transmitting said response to said wireless mobile telephone over said wireless network through a two-way data communication interface module in said server such that said wireless mobile telephone can display information corresponding to said response on said display.    
     
     
         97 . A computer readable medium for a server communicating with a wireless mobile telephone, said wireless mobile telephone having a display and a keypad, said computer readable medium comprising: 
 first computer program code for receiving over a wireless network a request from a client module executing on said wireless mobile telephone, said request including a resource locator identifying a resource in said server and identification information, said request created by retrieving said resource locator from a memory in said wireless mobile telephone, constructing said request using said resource locator and identification information, and displaying on said display information relating to said request;    second computer program code for processing said identification information to determine how to respond to said request;    third computer program code for generating in said server a response to said request; and    fourth computer program code for transmitting said response to said wireless mobile telephone such that said wireless mobile telephone can display information corresponding to said response on said display, said response transmitted over said wireless network through a two-way data communication interface module in said server.    
     
     
         98 . A method for a wireless mobile telephone, the method comprising: 
 creating, in a client module executing on a processor in said wireless mobile telephone, a request to a server in a data network, said request specifying a resource locator identifying a resource associated with said server;    transmitting said request over a wireless network to said server;    receiving a response from said server over said wireless network, said response comprising at least one form, each form including information for generating a display screen on said display; and    processing said response in said client module so as to cause information in said response to be displayed on a display of the wireless mobile telephone.    
     
     
         99 . The method of  claim 98 , wherein said creating comprises: 
 retrieving said resource locator from a memory in said wireless mobile telephone;    generating said request using said resource locator and identification information; and    displaying on said display information relating to said request.    
     
     
         100 . A method for a server interacting with a wireless mobile telephone, said wireless mobile telephone having a display, said method comprising: 
 receiving a request over a wireless network from a client module executing in said wireless mobile telephone, said request including a resource locator identifying a resource associated with said server and identification information;    processing said identification information;    generating in said server a response to said request, said response comprising at least one form, each form including information to be displayed on said display of said wireless mobile telephone; and    transmitting said response to said wireless mobile telephone over said wireless network through a two-way data communication interface module in said server such that said wireless mobile telephone can display information corresponding to said response on said display of said wireless mobile telephone.    
     
     
         101 . A two-way data communication system for communication between a server and a two-way data communication device, said two-way data communication system comprising: 
 a two-way data communication network;    a server computer comprising: 
 a two-way data communication interface module coupled to said two-way data communication network; and  
 a server coupled to said two-way data communication interface module;  
 wherein said server receives a message including a resource locator from said two-way data communication network, and said resource locator includes an address of said server;  
 said server processes said message using said resource locator; and  
 said server transmits a response to said message over said two-way data communication network;  
   a two-way data communication device coupled to said two-way data communication network, said two-way data communication device further comprising: 
 a network interface module coupled to said two-way data communication network; and  
 a client module coupled to said network interface module;  
 wherein said client module transmits said message including said resource locator to said server over said two-way data communication network; and  
 said client module processes said response to said message from said server for display.  
   
     
     
         102 . A two-way data communication system as in  claim 101 , wherein said two-way data communication device is a cellular telephone.  
     
     
         103 . A two-way data communication system as in  claim 101 , wherein said two-way data communication device is a telephone.  
     
     
         104 . A two-way data communication system for communication between a server computer and a cellular telephone, said two-way data communication system comprising: 
 a cellular telephone communication network;    a server computer comprising: 
 a two-way data communication interface module coupled to said cellular telephone communication network; and  
 a server coupled to said two-way data communication interface module;  
 wherein said server receives a message including a resource locator from said cellular telephone communication network wherein said resource locator includes an address of said server;  
 said server processes said message using said resource locator; and  
 said server transmits a response to said message over said cellular telephone communication network;  
   a cellular telephone coupled to said cellular telephone communication network wherein said cellular telephone further comprises: 
 a network interface module coupled to said cellular telephone communication network; and  
 a client module coupled to said network interface module;  
 wherein said client module transmits said message including said resource locator to said server over said cellular telephone communication network; and  
 said client module processes said response to said message from said server for display.  
   
     
     
         105 . A method for using a two-way data communication device to communicate with a server computer, comprising: 
 generating a message by a client module in response to data entered by said user of a two-way data communication device coupled to a two-way data communication network,    wherein said client module executes on a processor of said two-way data communication device;    said message includes a resource locator; and    said two-way data communication device is one of a cellular telephone and a telephone;    transmitting said message over said two-way data communication network to a server computer wherein said server computer is identified by said resource locator;    executing an application on said server computer identified by said resource locator to generate a response to said message; and    transmitting said response to a location identified by said application.    
     
     
         106 . A method for using a two-way data communication device to communicate with a server computer as in  claim 105 , wherein said response is transmitted to said client module.