System and method for rapid ordering of business supplies

A method of regularly replenishing supplies comprising:

• (a) communicating by telephone from a central installation by interactive voice response (IVR) a selection of supplies to local clients' telephones,
• (b) receiving by keyed-in responses from the local clients' telephones identifications of clients' choices of supplies from the selection of supplies,
• (c) aggregating clients' choices of like supplies,
• (d) by computer, via global computer network offering the purchase from suppliers of supplies thus aggregated, and
• (e) routing purchased supplies from suppliers to clients.

A method of operating a centralized supply order processing site, including:

• (a) receiving from a plurality of client computers orders for lists of supplies,
• (b) aggregating like supplies from the lists,
• (c) offering electronically by global computer network purchases of the supplies thus aggregated,
• (d) receiving electronically by global computer network offers to sell the supplies identified in step (c),
• (e) ordering the supplies from selected responding suppliers,
• (f) routing the supplies in quantities originally ordered in step (a) to ordering clients, and
• (g) charging the clients for the supplies routed to them.

A computer program comprising, in a tangible medium:

• (a) programming to aggregate in a central computer installation like supplies from lists of supplies input from remote client communication devices;
• (b) further programming to offer, via global computer network, to purchase the supplies thus aggregated;
• (c) additional programming to receive from remote suppliers offers to sell the supplies thus offered to be purchased;
• (d) other programming to communicate to offering suppliers acceptance of an offer to sell;
• and
• (e) still other programming to communicate to the suppliers instructions for delivery of the supplies among clients from whose lists the supplies have been aggregated.

A system for the regular replenishing of supplies including:

• (a) a central computer,
• (b) a plurality of clients' local communications devices,
• (c) a plurality of suppliers' local communications devices,
• (d) a computer program for the central computer including:
• (i) programming to receive lists of supplies from the plurality of clients' local communications devices and to aggregate like supplies from received lists of supplies,
• (ii) further programming to offer, via suppliers' local communications devices, to purchase from suppliers the supplies thus aggregated, and
• (iii) additional programming to communicate to the suppliers, via the suppliers' local communications devices, instructions for the delivery of the supplies among clients from whose lists the supplies have been aggregated.