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AssigneeWebTV Networks, Inc.
InventorsPatrick P. Bonnaure, Tom J. Ziola, William C. Herman
Estimating the term…
A database central routing device is provided for routing access requests for internet access among a variety of on-line service providers. The device generally includes a central server having a list of algorithms pertaining to access phone numbers of internet access providers to be chosen from. The central routing device further includes an automatic phone number identifier to identify incoming calls in order to identify the user as a customer. An algorithm generator is also included in order to download algorithms pertaining to particular phone numbers in order to give the user access to a variety of internet access providers. The central routing device allows the user to select from a number of internet access providers depending on the availability of the providers. Factors such as time of day, consistent peak and off peak hours of any particular provider, the time of access, the type of user such as consumer or business user, and other factors in order to make efficient use of a variety of internet access providers.
In a system comprising a central access server having information identifying a plurality of internet access providers and a client system capable of utilizing one of the plurality of internet access providers to connect to the internet, a method of selecting an internet access provider, comprising the steps of:
In a central access server having information identifying a plurality of internet access providers, a method for identifying to a client system a subset of said plurality of internet access providers and transmitting an internet access provider selection algorithm to said client system, comprising the steps of:
In a client system capable of connecting to the internet, a method for selecting an internet access provider comprising the steps of:
In a client system capable of connecting to the internet, a computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:
In a central access server connected to a client system and having information identifying a plurality of internet access providers, a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:
In a system comprising a central access server having information identifying a plurality of internet access providers and a client system capable of utilizing one of the plurality of internet access providers to connect to the internet, a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.