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|United States Patent Application
;   et al.
November 21, 2002
Method and apparatus for exchanging contact information
A method and apparatus for exchanging personal contact information with
another person or group over a network. The personal information may
include, but not limited to, work address, work phone, home address, home
phone, cell phone numbers, email addresses, interests, hobbies, pictures
or other pertinent information. Personal contact information is stored in
a database and there is one to many contact profiles that a user can
exchange. Using access to a network with, but not limited to, a computer,
PDA, phone or other device, a person may request that one profile be sent
to another party. The receiving party receives the profile in a location
like a mailbox that they may attach some personal notes, set a follow up
activity and then save the new contact in a database for future
Clark, Kevin; (Chicago, IL)
; Tang, Tze-John; (Chicago, IL)
; Tokarskiy, Vladimir; (Chicago, IL)
Mr. Kevin W. Clark
c/o Objectsoft, Inc.
750 North Clark
April 30, 2002|
|Current U.S. Class:
||709/213; 709/206 |
|Class at Publication:
||709/213; 709/206 |
1. A system for transferring personal data from one user to another
through a transmission protocol providing: a means to store user data
profiles containing information about the user including, but not limited
to, name, addresses, phone numbers, emails, important dates, hobbies,
pictures and notes; a means to send a profile to another person or group
of people on the network through a transmission protocol; a means to
select if the sender wishes to receive a profile in return; a means to
view incoming profile data sent to user; a means to store received user
profiles from the network; a means to allow the user to respond to
requests from the network for user profile data.
2. A system of claim 1 further comprising information about: the user's
access to accounts on other remote systems; the user's computers and
devices; the user's software to facilitate propagation of contact
information; the user's preferred destination to receive new information.
3. A system of claim 1 further comprising: a means to change or update
profiles defined in system; a means to create different profiles, with
potentially different information, and store them by name for later
selection; a means to order different named profiles for selection; a
means to select a profile by name and send it to other people over the
4. A system of claim 3 further comprising: a means for the user to
establish default profiles to send when responding to requests for
profiles from the network; a means for the user to establish a password
required to be presented when responding to requests for profiles from
5. A system of claim 1 that contains all data and information about users
but is not residing on the computer or device of the user.
6. A system of claim 5 that has a means to store all user information
defined in claim 1 or claim 2 on a remote database accessiable from a
transmission protocol; a means to store profiles and contact information
for users; a means for remote users using computers and devices to
securely access the remote system and database; a means for remote users
using computers and devices to send profiles from the remote database; a
means for remote users to view received profiles on the remote system; a
means for remote users to delete incoming profiles on the remote system;
a means for remote users to forward incoming profiles to an email or
phone number from the remote system; a means for remote users to save the
incoming profile in a contact database on the remote system.
7. A system of claim 5 that can identify the unique user by email or phone
8. A system of claim 5 that can rsend and eceive secure and non-secure
rmessages, data and profiles
9. A system of claim 5 that may send and receive requests in a markup
10. A system of claim 5 that may send and receive requests in character
11. A system of claim 1 or claim 5 that may optionally attach the
following information when sending a profile: geographic location of the
sender; time and date of the transmission; the physical location (i.e.
establishment, street or address) based on geographic information;
12. A system of claim 5 that may notify receivers of new incoming profiles
by, but not limited to, email, messaging, voice or fax.
13. A system of claim 12 that allows the user to respond to the
14. A system of claim 13 that allows the user to receive notifications
that at hypertext markup language links that will invoke the remote
system when activated.
15. A system of claim 6 that allows the user saving a profile from the
remote system to: attach notes to the profile and save in remote or local
contact database; attach a picture to the profile and save in remote or
local contact database; attach a voice memo to the profile and save in a
remote or local contact database.
16. A system of claim 6 or claim 15 that allows the user to schedule an
activity or reminder with the incoming profile when saved in a database.
17. A system of claim 1 or claim 6 that operates on any network
18. A system of claim 1 or claim 6 that operates with local network
protocols including, but not limited to, infrared, PCS, LAN and 802.11b.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
 This application claims priority based on U.S. Provisional Patent
Application Serial No. 60/287,180, entitled "Method and apparatus for
exchanging contact information" filed Apr. 30, 2001.
 A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains
material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner
has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent
document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and
Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all
copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
 The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for
exchange of personal information over the Internet. It can be used in a
variety of ways including cell phones, pages, PDA and other web sites.
Rather than store contact information on a device or a computer for
exchange, the present invention allows users to store contact information
on computers attached to the Internet and share contact information with
other computers, phones, PDAs or devices connected to the Internet
without having to be in proximity to the other person.
 In addition, sharing can occur by copying information or by sharing
a reference to a contact record. References have the distinct advantage
of being able to update themselves with the latest information from the
Related Prior Art
 While some personal digital assistants (PDAs) can beam and exchange
of information to each other. This is a personal exchange of information
between two devices. It does not allow for update without proximity of
two devices and it does not enable automatic update of information based
on a shared central database.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
 It is an object of the invention to provide a software product
and/or service to facilitate the exchange of personal information between
people. It is meant to remove the manual process of writing down on a
piece of paper another persons information or exchanging business cards
and then entering this information into a computer.
 This will allow two people that meet, to exchange a simple phone
number or email address with a pin to exchange details like home contact
information, work contact information, hobbies, interests, and more. The
present invention provides a method and apparatus to exchange information
over the Internet or other transport mediums. The present invention also
makes it possible for a person to easily exchange or send information to
another person without being in close proximity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
 FIG. 1A is a system diagram showing the communications between
various senders and receivers.
 FIG. 1B is a detailed block diagram of the server architecture of
 FIG. 1C is a detailed block diagram of the send/exchange module of
 FIG. 1D is a detailed block diagram of profile exchanges between
clients with software to send and receive profiles.
 FIG. 2A is a flow diagram of the sending processes of the exchange.
 FIG. 2B is a flow diagram of receiving process of the exchange.
 FIG. 3A is a flow diagram illustrating the process of registering a
user with the system.
 FIG. 3B is a flow diagram illustrating the process of viewing and
storing incoming profiles.
 FIG. 3C is a flow diagram illustrating the process of choosing a
profile from a transmission history log and sending the selected profille
to a desination address.
 FIG. 4A is a flow diagram illustrating the process of creating
 FIG. 4B is a flow diagram illustrating the process to edit existing
 FIG. 4C is a flow diagram illustrating the process to copy a
profile for editing.
 FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of activating,
deactivating and organizing profiles.
 The present invention is directed at providing a better process for
exchanging personal information between two or more persons. Briefly
described, the program allows a user to create one or many personal
profiles that they will use when giving information about themselves to
others. These personal profiles may include phone numbers, addresses,
notes, pictures, schedule information, hobbies, interests or other
pertinent information. The invention also allows for receipt of profiles
in the exchange with a efficient means to file new contact information
into a database locally or remotely for use at a later time.
 FIG. 1A and the following discussion are intended to provide an
overview of the computing environment in which the invention may be
implemented. While the program will be described in the general context
of an application program that runs in an operating system in conjunction
with personal computers, hand-held devices, and telephones, those skilled
in the art will recognize that the invention also may be implemented in
combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules
include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. Moreover,
those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be
practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held
devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable
consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.
The invention may also be practiced utilizing standard telephone systems
as a terminal to respond to and generate requests to the application
program. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing
environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that
are linked through a communications network. In a distributed
environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote
memory storage systems.
 Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer
to like elements, FIG. 1A illustrates a contact exchange system 100 which
comprises a computer system acting as a contact exchange server 102 and
may include a voice response unit 103 to respond to voice commands using
standard telephones 201 or wireless phones. A user sending a profile may
utilize a computer or other devices 200 to send it to other people over a
transport medium 150 utilizing the contact exchange server 102. The
contact exchange server 102 will, in turn, communicate with destination
computers or devices 201 to deliver the profile information directly or
notify the destination user so the profile can be fetched from the
contact exchange server 102 using a transport medium 151 or stored on the
contact exchange server.
 And in FIG. 1A, the transport mediums 150 and 151 preferably using
Internet Protocols (IP). A client system 200 can be any device that
connects to the system 100 via the Internet or other transport methods
that may include, but is not limited to, televisions, computers,
hand-held electronic devices, wireless electronic devices, and in point
of fact, any device that uses an electronic transport medium.
Non-limiting examples of the transport medium 150 and 151 include any
backbone or link such as an ATM Link, FDDI Link, satellite link, cable,
twisted pair, fiber-optic, broadcast wireless network, the Internet,
Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or any other kind of
network environment such as a standard Ethernet link. In such alternative
cases, the clients will communicate with the system using protocols
appropriate for the network which that client is attached.
 Also in FIG. 1A, a transport medium 152 may also be a plain old
telephone system (POTS) that access the contact exchange system 100 with
a voice response unit 103 via a telephone 201. The voice response unit
103 will translate voice and touch-tone commands into requests 300 that
the contact exchange server 101 will be able to process. It will also
translate responses 301 from the contact exchange server 101 to voice to
be heard by users on the telephone 201.
 FIG. 1B is a functional block diagram of the software modules of
the contact exchange system 100 constructed in accordance with the
exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The exchange system 100
includes several major software modules: The request handler 101 handles
incoming requests to send and exchange profiles. The send/exchange module
102 manages sending profiles and receiving profiles for exchange. The
authentication/authorization module 103 validates the users access to the
exchange system 100. The registration module 104 is used to register new
users to the system. The profile manager module 105 is used to manage
profiles for a user. The profile viewer module 106 is used to display
incoming profiles and manage the users organization of incoming profiles.
The data storage module 107 is used by other modules to store data to the
database 120. The request handler module 101, profile send/exchange
module 102, authentication/authorization module 103, registration module
104, profile manager module 105, inbound profile viewer module 106 and
data storage module 107 are used with a database 120. Each of these
modules are discussed in detail below.
 Also in FIG. 1B, the request handler module 101 receives send and
exchange requests from users. It utilizes authentication/authorization
module 103 to validate the user. If the user is not recognized, the
registration module 104 is used to register a new user in the contact
exchange system 100. All modules utilize a data storage module 107 to
interact with the database 120. Once the user is verified, the request
handler module 101 will utilize the profile manager module 105 to select
the profile information to send. Once selected, the request handler
module 101 will forward the selected profile to the send/exchange module
102 which will, in turn, deliver the profile information to the target
 And in FIG. 1B, the send/exchange module 102 is responsible for
sending profiles and receiving profiles in exchange from target users. It
interacts with target users with e-mail and messages to send and receive
profiles. Receivers of the profile can respond back with their own
profile information or by invoking an action on the exchange system 100
that will send a profile directly from the database 120 to the original
sender which will complete the exchange. The last option is only
available to users who have entered profile information in the contact
exchange system 100.
 In FIG. 1B, the inbound profile viewer module 106 allows the
registered users to view incoming profiles sent to them and choose to
return a profile back to the sender. The inbound profile viewer module
106 utilizes the authentication/authorization module 103 to verify user
before allowing them to view inbound profiles. The profile manager module
105 is used to access the profiles in the database 120 via the data
storage module 107.
 FIG. 1C is a detailed functional block diagram of the send/exchange
module. The send/exchange module 200 is invoked from the request handler
module 101. The initial send/exchange request is invoked by the sender
utilizing PCs or other devices 150. The request is managed by the
send/receive module 200. The profile selection subsystem 101 allows the
user to enter a new profile or elects and existing profile.
 Referring to FIG. 1C, once the profile is selected, the target is
determined from information in the send/exhchange request. The target
determination subsystem 203 attempts to match the destination information
from the request with existing users in the database 120. If information
about the target is located, the profile will be translated by the target
translation subsystem 204 into the format that can be accepted by the
target computer or device 151. Once translated, the profile is passed to
the target sender subsystem 202 for transmission.
 Also in FIG. 1C, the target sender subsystem 202 determines how to
deliver the profile to the target computers or devices 151. The target
sender may send links to profiles that are stored in the database 120 or
it may send the profile directly to target systems 151.
 FIG. 1D is a functional block diagram of the present invention in
the client/server architecture. Those skilled in the art will recognize
that many of the modules and subsystems are the same. What differs is the
means that the profile is selected or assembled. In a client/server
architecture, the client systems 150 and 151, have memory and permanent
storage to save profile information. A profile sender module 200 may
reside on the client systems 150 allowing the sender to create and select
personal profile information and optionally store it in a local database
120. The profile sender 200 sends the profile with a request to the
contact exchange system 100 which, in turn, utilizes the send/exchange
module 102 to deliver the information to target clients 151.
 In FIG. 1D, the target client systems 151, may have memory and
permanent storage and may be able to operate a module referred to in FIG.
1D as the profile receiver 201. The profile receiver 201 receives a
profile and may store it in a local database 121. It may also choose to
automatically respond back to the sender with profile information if the
target user decides this is what they want to occur. The target user on
target systems 151 may also review incoming profiles using the inbound
profile viewer module 202. When reviewing profiles, they may choose to
save the profile in the local database 121, forward, delete the incoming
profile or respond to the sender.
 FIG. 2A is a flowchart of the send profile process. In this process
the sender initiates a send of a profile 100 by choosing a profile to
send. The user then enters the destination address 101, such as a email
or phone number, and chooses an option to send or exchange 102. The
system may attach timestamp, geographic or determined location
information to the outbound profile that will be used by the receiver as
context for the exhchange of information. The request is sent to the
contact exchange system which determines if the destination is an email
103 or a phone number 104.
 Referring to FIG. 2A, if the destination is a email address, the
system will check to see if the email address matches a registered user
of the system 105. If no match is found, the system will assemble an
email with the profile information and link back to the system so the
receiver may fetch the profile. The system may attach a standard
representation such as a vcard to the email that represents the profile
106. The system will send the email 107 and store the sent profile, or a
reference to the profile, in the system database 108 to be retrieved at a
later time by the receiver.
 Referring also FIG. 2A, if the email address is recognized as a
user on the system 105, the system will then attempt to determine the
preferred method of exchange for profiles 109. If the preferred method of
exchange is email, the process described in paragraph 0033 will be
enacted. If some other communication is preferred, the system will
determine the characteristics of the target destination and
characteristics of the communication means 111. Using this information,
the system will consist of the appropriate data to send to the target
device over some means of communication 112.
 In FIG. 2A, if the target device can process HTTP links 114, the
system will attach a link to the message 113 that can be used by the
receiver to fetch the sent profile. The system will store the profile
115, or some reference to the profile, that will be used later by the
receiver. Once the message is compiled and the profile is stored, the
message is sent 117. If the target device cannot process HTTP links 114,
the system will convert the message and profile to text and send it to
the receiver 116.
 FIG. 2B is a flowchart of the receive profile process. In this
process a message is received 100 which starts the process. If the
message contains a link that the receivers device or computer can
understand 101, the user may select that link 102 to navigate the the
contact exchange system. If the message does not contain a link, but
contains an attachment the device or computer can recognize 103, then the
user is presented with the option to store the profile locally 104. If
the user chooses not to store the profile locally, the user will be shown
the same message again 107 and the process with restart 100. If the user
stores the message locally 105, the process ends. If the user chooses not
to store the message locally 104, then the process will return to the
same message 107 and the process will restart 100.
 Also in FIG. 2B, if the receivers device or computer cannot receive
attachments of profiles 103, the user may, if their computer or device
allows them to, go to the location of the contact exchange system 106 on
the network. Once receivers invoke the contact exchange system, they may
use their login ID and password sent with the message 108 to access the
system and view incoming profiles. When viewing profiles, the user may
forward the profile to a unique address email or phone number 110, store
the profile locally 111 or take no action on the profile . The user may
view more profiles 115 if no action is taken. If the user chooses to
foward the profile information to email address or phone number, they
enter the address 113 and confirm the send. After sending the profile,
the may view other incoming profiles 115.
 FIG. 3A is a flowchart of the registration process. This process
begins at 100 after the users email or some other id, perhaps a phone
number, is gathered. If the email or id is recognized as a user of the
system 101, the user is already member and this process terminates 104.
If the user is not recognized, the system will create a new profile and
generate a new password for the user 102. The user may complete a profile
with information about themselves 103, including, but not limited to,
name, addresses, phone numbers, important dates and pictures.
 FIG. 3B is a detailed flowchart of the incoming profile review
process. This process begins at 100 after the receiver has invoked the
contact exchange system to review incoming profiles. The user is
presented with incoming profiles 101 so they may select a profile 102.
When the user selects a profile, they are shown the information about the
profile 103 and have the option to erase, forward or store the profile.
If the user chooses to erase the profile 104, a confirmation dialog will
confirm their action and then return them to the list of incoming
 Also in FIG. 3B, if the user chooses to forward the profile 106,
they will be prompted to enter a email address or phone number 107. The
contact exchange system will then translate the profile to be understood
by the target destination and send the translated profile 108. The user
can then opt to store the profile locally 109 as described in the
following paragraph 0042.
 And in FIG. 3B, if the user chooses to store the profile 109, they
may assign the profile to a group and add notes 110. Assignment to a
group will allow a user to organize contact profiles in the database for
easier location and access. Adding notes will allow a user to add context
to the exchange of the profiles. For example, they might write a quick
description of the person or about where they met the person. After this
information is entered, the profile and additional information entered by
the user is stored in a database 111.
 FIG. 3C is a flowchart of the resend process. User may choose to
resend a profile by viewing a transmission log 101 and selecting a
profile 102. After the user selects the profile, they can choose to
retransmit the profile 103. If they choose to retransmit, the user can
choose a destination 104 to send the profile. Once the destination is
selected the contact exchange system will translate the profile and
message to the appropriate format for the destination 105 and send the
translated message 106. Users will be given a confirmation message after
the profile is sent 107 and returned to the transmission log 101.
 FIG. 4A is a flowchart of the profile creation process. Profile
creation is the process that a user implements to define and name a
profile with information and name it for future use. The process begins
on the contact exchange system when the user enters the profile creation
module 100 and chooses to create a new profile. The user is presented
with a screen that allows them to enter the profile name 101. If the
profile name exists 102, the user is required to enter another name. Once
a name is choosen, the user enters the profile data 103 including, but
not limited to, phone numbers, addresses, important dates, pictures and
notes. The user profile is saved in the system database 104. After the
process is complete, a list of all profiles are presented 105 and the
user can choose to create another profile 106.
 FIG. 4B is a flowchart of the profile edit process. This process is
invoked by users of the system to edit the information in a profile. A
user enters the process at 100 and views all their profiles in the system
101. The user can choose a profile 102 and edit the profile data 103.
Once the data is edited, the user can cancel the edit or save the profile
in a database 104. Users will be returned to the beginning of this
 FIG. 4C is a flowchart of the profile copying process. This process
is invoked by users who want to copy profiles and save them under a
different name with potentially different information. In this process,
the user is presented with a list of all profiles 101. They can choose a
profile to copy 102. The system requires the user to enter a new profile
name 103 which is validated to be unique 104. The user can then choose to
store the new and potentially modified profile in the database 106 and
will be returned to an updated list of all profiles 101.
 FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the profile activation and ordering
process. During this process, users may choose which profiles they wish
to ke p active and what order they will be presented. The user can select
one to many profiles in the list and activate or deactivate 102. Also,
they may choose to reorder the list of active profiles 103. After the
user has made changes, they may save the changes 104 and return to the
updated list of profiles 101.
* * * * *