Electronic business postal system

Abstract

An electronic business postal system collects, clears and delivers electronic business mail through a closed access, secure messaging system. A collection subsystem consists of access portals that are associated with secured system nodes. The access portals provide authenticated users access to the system to send and retrieve electronic business mail that includes postal system electronic delivery addresses, physical delivery addresses, or both. Secured message servers that are associated with the respective access portals process the electronic business mail into uniquely identified messages for delivery over the system nodes and also process received messages to provide the corresponding electronic business mail to the intended recipients through associated access portals. A delivery subsystem directs the messages through the system nodes associated with the senders' access portals to the system nodes associated with the recipients' access portals. A clearance subsystem confirms the integrity of both the messages and their delivery and ensures that each message is delivered once and intact.

Claims

1. An access portal of a secure system of nodes, the access portal comprising: one or more processors configured to: receive one or more authentication input commands to authenticate a first user registered with the secure system of nodes; receive, after the first user is authenticated, one or more first input commands to create a first electronic business mailing, wherein the first electronic business mailing is sent over the secure system of nodes to a destination access portal associated with a recipient of the first electronic business mailing; and receive, after the first user is authenticated, one or more second input commands to access a second electronic business mailing from an authenticated sender, wherein the access portal is selected, from a plurality of access portals, to receive a third electronic business mailing including delivery address information and addressed to a second user, wherein the selection is based on a locality of a physical delivery address of the second user when a user postal system electronic delivery address, assigned to registered users, is not included in the delivery address information and the physical delivery address cannot be associated with a corresponding user postal system electronic delivery address.

2. The access portal of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide one or more print commands to a printer configured to print the third electronic business mailing.

3. The access portal of claim 1, wherein the one or more processor are further configured to provide one or more data entry fields, to the first user, to create the first electronic business mailing.

4. The access portal of claim 1, wherein the first electronic business mailing is processed into one or more unique messages that are encoded for integrity checks prior to sending the one or more unique messages over the secure system of nodes to the destination access portal.

5. The access portal of claim 1, wherein the first electronic business mailing is processed into one or more unique messages storing content associated with the first electronic business mailing, and wherein the content is encrypted prior to sending the one or more unique messages over the secure system of nodes to the destination access portal.

6. The access portal of claim 1, wherein the first electronic business mailing is processed into one or more unique messages and each unique message is provided an identifier to ensure that each unique message is delivered only once to the destination access portal.

7. The access portal of claim 1, wherein a data manager is configured to store and manage the second electronic business mailing and content associated with the second electronic business mailing.

8. A method comprising: receiving, at an access portal including one or more processors, one or more authentication input commands; utilizing, by the one or more processors of the access portal, the one or more authentication input commands to authenticate a first user registered with a secure system of nodes; receiving, at the access portal and after the first user is authenticated, one or more first input commands to create a first electronic business mailing; sending, by the one or more processors, the first electronic business mailing to the secure system of nodes such that the first electronic business mailing is sent over the secure system of nodes to a destination access portal associated with a recipient of the first electronic business mailing; receiving, at the access portal and after the first user is authenticated, one or more second input commands to access a second electronic business mailing from an authenticated sender; and receiving, at the access portal, a third electronic business mailing including delivery address information of a second user, wherein the access portal is selected from a plurality of access portals to receive the third electronic business mailing based on a locality of a physical delivery address of the second user when a user postal system electronic delivery address, assigned to registered users, is not included in the delivery address information and the physical delivery address cannot be associated with a corresponding user postal system electronic delivery address.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing one or more print commands to a printer configured to print the third electronic business mailing.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing one or more data entry fields, to the first user, to create the first electronic business mailing.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising processing the first electronic business mailing into one or more unique messages that are encoded for integrity checks prior to sending the one or more unique messages over the secure system of nodes to the destination access portal.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising processing the first electronic business mailing into one or more unique messages storing content associated with the first electronic business mailing, and wherein the content is encrypted prior to sending the one or more unique messages over the secure system of nodes to the destination access portal.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising processing the first electronic business mailing into one or more unique messages and each unique message is provided an identifier to ensure that each unique message is delivered only once to the destination access portal.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising wherein a data manager stores and manages the second electronic business mailing and content associated with the second electronic business mailing.

15. An access portal of a secure system of nodes, the access portal comprising: one or more processors configured to: receive one or more authentication input commands to authenticate a first user registered with the secure system of nodes; receive, after the first user is authenticated, one or more input commands to create a first electronic business mailing or access a second electronic business mailing, wherein the first electronic business mailing is sent over the secure system of nodes to a destination access portal associated with a recipient after the first electronic business mailing is created utilizing the one or more input commands, or wherein the second electronic business mailing is received at the access portal and accessed after receiving the one or more input commands to access the second electronic business mailing that was transmitted over the secure system of nodes from a registered sender; and receive a third electronic business mailing including delivery address information of a second user, wherein access portal is selected from a plurality of access portals to receive the third electronic business mailing based on a locality of a physical delivery address of the second user when a user postal system electronic delivery address, assigned to registered users, is not included in the delivery address information and the physical delivery address cannot be associated with a corresponding user postal system electronic delivery address.

16. The access portal of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide one or more print commands to a printer configured to print the third electronic business mailing.

17. The access portal of claim 15, wherein the one or more processor are further configured to provide one or more data entry fields, to the first user, to create the first electronic business mailing when the one or more input commands are received to create the first business mailing.

18. The access portal of claim 15, wherein the first electronic business mailing is processed into one or more unique messages that are encoded for integrity checks prior to sending the one or more unique messages over the secure system of nodes to the destination access portal.

19. The access portal of claim 15, wherein the first electronic business mailing is processed into one or more unique messages storing content associated with the first electronic business mailing, and wherein the content is encrypted prior to sending the one or more unique messages over the secure system of nodes to the destination access portal.

20. The access portal of claim 15, wherein the first electronic business mailing is processed into one or more unique messages and each unique message is provided an identifier to ensure that each unique message is delivered only once to the destination access portal.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention description below refers to the accompanying drawings, of which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a system constructed in accordance with the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram that further illustrates the system of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3A illustrates the format of traditional business mail;

(5) FIGS. 3B-C illustrates structured documents that are utilized by the system of FIGS. 1 and 2;

(6) FIG. 4 illustrates alternative collection devices;

(7) FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a data manager of FIG. 1; and

(8) FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the document processing operations of the system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

(9) Referring to FIG. 1, an electronic business postal system includes a closed access network 100 of secured system nodes 102 and a collection subsystem that consists of access portals 104 that are associated with the system nodes. The access portals, which may be business applications 104.sub.1, business portals 104.sub.2, or mobile devices 104.sub.3 that contain secured system nodes, are the only access points to the network. The access portals allow authenticated users to send and retrieve properly addressed electronic business and transactional documents and correspondence over the system. The properly addressed electronic business documents and correspondence may be contracts, invoices, payment authorizations, letters, and so forth, and are referred to hereinafter as electronic business mailings.

(10) One or more messaging subsystems consist of one or more secured message servers 108 that are associated with the access portals 104. The message servers process the electronic business mailings to produce messages that are uniquely identified across the network 100. A delivery subsystem 110 routes the respective messages over the system nodes 102, from the originating system nodes associated with the senders' access portals to the destination system nodes associated with the access portals through which the recipients gain access to the system to, for example, retrieve the electronic business mailings. The delivery subsystem utilizes one or more address registries 111 that associate postal system electronic delivery addresses, physical delivery addresses, or both, with the system nodes and, as appropriate, with particular associated access portals if a given system node is associated with more than one access portal.

(11) A clearance subsystem 114 operates at the system nodes 102 to check the integrity of the messages and also the delivery of the messages, to ensure that each message, and thus, the corresponding electronic business mailing, is delivered, delivered intact, and delivered only once. The various subsystems are discussed in more detail below.

(12) The respective message servers 108 and system nodes 102 include security processes 103 that operate in a known manner to ensure that the servers and nodes utilize only authorized processes to produce the messages at the senders' access portals, route the messages, and provide the electronic business mailings to the recipients' access portals. In this way, interlopers can not disrupt the operations of the secured nodes and/or insert unauthorized messages into the system or re-direct messages that are within the system. The system thus ensures that the electronic business mailings are handled in a manner that satisfies the collection, clearance and distribution requirements of national and international postal service conventions and agreements, without requiring an exchange of paper. For ease of illustration, the security processes 103 are illustrated in the drawing as operating at the system nodes 102. However, the security processes operate also at the message servers 108.

(13) Referring also to FIG. 2, the access portals 104 are operated in conjunction with postal authorities or third-party hosts, such as banks or other companies, that provide authentication operations. The access portals may, for example, be established to service users in a particular geographic area, such as a city or state. Large entities or government agencies may also operate their own access portals for the sending and retrieving of the electronic business mailings provided by them to the system or directed to them over the system.

(14) A user selects an appropriate access portal 104 and provides the necessary information for authentication to set up a postal system account with a postal system electronic delivery address. If a postal authority operates the access portals, the user selects the access portal that corresponds to his or her geographic area. If third parties host some or all of the access portals, the user may, as an example, select an access portal operated by a national bank or by another type of third party host, such as Google. Once the user's postal system account is established, the user may connect to the selected access portal over the telephone 202, through a television 204, a PC 206, or other electronic device, to send and retrieve electronic business mailings.

(15) As discussed in more detail below, the system may also include one or more hybrid access portals 105, which receive electronic delivery of the electronic business mailings that have physical addresses but no corresponding postal system electronic delivery addresses are known. The hybrid access portals, which provide access to the system 100 for the Postal Network, allow the Postal Network to print out the business mail that corresponds to the electronic business mailings at post offices that are local to the respective physical delivery addresses. The post offices then deliver the business mail as paper mail pieces over established postal delivery routes in conformance with established postal service rules and regulations. To maintain the privacy of the communications, the post office may enclose the contents of the business mail in an envelope that reveals only the information required for delivery, i.e., the physical delivery address, franking information and, as appropriate, the sender's return address information. In addition, the hybrid access portals may be associated with other services that are entrusted to provide mail piece deliveries to physical delivery addresses.

(16) Referring again to FIG. 1 and also to FIG. 6, the access portals 104, in step 600, authenticate users and/or applications using authentication capabilities 109, which may be provided by the postal authority or third party host (not shown). The authentication capabilities operate in a known manner using, for example, combinations of user names and passwords and/or other identifying information, to penetrate associated layers of security. The user thus enters his user name and password through the access portal, and the authentication process, operating in a known manner, determines if the user name/password combination is valid. Once authenticated, a user has unlimited access through the access portal to provide electronic business mailings for delivery over the system (step 602) and/or retrieve electronic business mailings that have been directed through the system to the user's postal system electronic delivery address. In addition, the authenticated user has unlimited access to any user data that is being managed and retained by a data manager 112, which is a data management and storage service that may available through the access portal, as discussed in more detail below.

(17) The one or more messaging subsystems, which are built utilizing messaging operations performed by Escher Group Limited's Riposte software, operate together to uniquely identify the respective messages that are sent over the electronic business postal system 100. The messaging subsystems assign identifiers that are unique over the entire system 100 to the system nodes 102, and utilize the identifiers of the system nodes that originate the respective messages, that is, the nodes that are associated with the senders' access portals, to generate the unique identifiers for the messages. The message servers 108 may, for example, include all or a portion of the system node identifiers in the message identifiers, and/or may manipulate the system node identifiers to produce corresponding values that are then included in the message identifiers. In addition, the message servers may include in the message identifiers monotonically increasing sequence numbers and/or other order indicators such as date, time and so forth (step 604).

(18) The message subsystems may further encode the messages to produce check sums, which are then used by the clearance subsystem to ensure that the messages are delivered intact. Thus, the message servers 108 use cyclic redundancy check codes or the like in a known manner to encode the messages, for example, byte-by-byte, to produce corresponding check sums. The check sums are then included in the messages, as part of the system information (step 606).

(19) The message server 108 also includes as system information a franking code or other identification information that indicates how the cost of the communication is funded (step 608). The users will thus maintain deposit accounts within their postal system accounts or link their postal system accounts to banking accounts, and so forth, to fund the cost of delivering the electronic business mailings through the electronic business postal system.

(20) The message server may also encrypt the body or content/data of the business mailings, using an encryption code in a known manner, to ensure the privacy of the information (step 609). The delivery address and system information are not encrypted, however, so that the information is available for message routing through the system nodes and to the associated message servers.

(21) The delivery subsystem 110, in steps 610, 612 and 702, uses delivery address information from the business mailings to enter the address registries 111 and identify respective destination nodes that associated with the electronic and/or physical delivery addresses. In addition or alternatively, the delivery subsystem may identify a system node that is within a global or regional group of nodes that, in turn, will route the message to the destination node or to a node in another group of nodes, and so forth. The address registries may operate in known manners as data bases, look-up tables, ordered lists, and so forth.

(22) If the delivery subsystem 110 cannot associate a physical delivery address with a corresponding user postal system electronic delivery address, the delivery subsystem, in steps 704 and 706, selects as the postal system electronic delivery address an appropriate hybrid mail access portal 105 (FIG. 2). The subsystem thus selects the hybrid access portal that is associated with a post office or other postal or carrier service that is local to and/or delivers to the physical delivery address. The address registries 111 then associate the selected postal system electronic delivery address with the appropriate destination node or group node, as described above.

(23) Once the destination node or group node is identified for a given message, the delivery subsystem provides the necessary routing information to the message as system information and routes the message to the next system node (steps 614, 616, 618).

(24) When a system node 102 receives a message, the node determines if the message is intact (steps 708, 710). Thus, the node encodes the received message to produce a new check sum and determines if the new check sum is the same as the check sum that is included in the received message. Other operations may be performed in addition to or as alternatives to the check sum operations, to ensure that the content of the received message is the same, e.g., byte-by-byte, as the message originated onto the network. The system node may also determine if the integrity of the message delivery is maintained, using the sequence number in the message identifier to determine, for example, that the message is the next message expected in the delivery sequence (step 712). Alternatively, the integrity checking of the message and/or the message delivery may be done at fewer than all of the system nodes or only at the destination and/or origination nodes, as discussed below.

(25) If the system node 102 determines the message and, as appropriate, message delivery, pass the integrity checks, the node sends the message to a next system node along the route (step 618). Otherwise, the node discards the message (steps 711, 713). The discarding node may notify the originating node of the discard, and the originating node then re-sends the message. Alternatively, the originating node may re-send the message if an acknowledgement is not received within a predetermined time after the message is sent.

(26) When the destination system node 102 receives the message, the node performs the integrity checks on the message and message delivery (steps 620, 622, 624). If the message fails either integrity check, the destination node discards the message and, as appropriate, notifies the originating node (step 714). If the message passes both integrity checks, the destination system node sends an acknowledgement of the receipt of the message to the originating system node, which then also confirms the integrity of the message delivery. In the example, the originating node checks that the message has not been received out of order. If the integrity of the delivery is compromised, the originating system node directs the destination node to discard the received message. The originating node then re-sends the original message. Otherwise, if the message and its delivery pass the integrity checks at both the designation node and the originating node, the message server 108 associated with the destination node strips the system information from the message, decrypts the message contents, as appropriate, and provides the corresponding electronic business mailing to the associated access portal 104 that is associated, also, with the intended recipient.

(27) The message server 108 associated with the access portal 104 next, in step 626, processes the received message and provides the corresponding business mailing to access portal 104. The access portal then retains the business mailing for later retrieval by the intended recipient or, as appropriate, directs the business mailing to applications that require or manage the information (steps 628, 630, 716). For example, an access portal may direct an authorization for payment or an invoice into a given businesses accounting system based on the delivery address information or other information contained in the electronic business mailing, as discussed below.

(28) In addition or in the alternative, the access portals 104 may operate a data manager 112 that provides data storage and management capabilities for the business mailings, or the content/data thereof, received and/or sent over the system, operating, for example, as an electronic filing system. Referring also to FIG. 5, the data manager may organize the data into electronic files 113 relating to taxes, licenses, employment, health, bills due, bills paid, checking account information, and so forth. Accordingly, a user may then store electronic tax records, health records, employment records, bills, invoices, payment information, prescription information, and so forth, from a multitude of sources in an organized and secure manner. Through the access portal, the user then has unlimited access to any or all of the information received over the system, and the user can, for example, further share the information as desired with others, such as an accountant or medical specialist, by sending the information in electronic business mailings over the system. The data storage and management operations are administered in a known manner, such as in the manner of customer relationship management (CRM) operations. The data manager may thus direct the electronic business mailings to particular files based the information contained in the electronic business mailing, such as the address information, the content/data, the type of document, i.e., invoice, payment authorization, the date, and so forth (steps 630, 632).

(29) Referring now to FIGS. 3A-C, the electronic business mailings provided to the system are structured documents 300 (FIG. 3B) that are based on XML, such that the business mailings can be entered and interpreted through various operating systems. Traditional business mail 30, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, includes an envelope 31 with a recipient address 32, the sender's address or other return mail information 34, and franking information 33, which are read to route the correspondence through the traditional Postal Network. The envelope encloses correspondence or other documentation 35, and shields the contents/data 36 of the correspondence or documentation from the view of the Postal Network personal, to maintain the privacy of the content/data.

(30) FIG. 3B illustrates an example of the structured form 300 utilized for electronic business mailings by the system 100. The structured form includes fields for letterhead or a company logo 302; a source language identifier 304 that allows the system to interpret messages in various languages; sender and recipient address information 306, 308; a date 305; system franking information 310; and contents/data 312. If the system operates internationally, space is provided also for country code 315. In addition, the structured form may include a message type field 314, to indicate a payment, an invoice, and so forth, which the recipient's and/or the sender's access portals may use to direct the electronic business mailing or the contents/data thereof to appropriate applications that require the data or to appropriate folders for managed retention through the data manager 112, as discussed above.

(31) The recipient address information 308 may include a physical delivery address, such as a street address or postal box, and/or a postal system electronic delivery address, as discussed above.

(32) FIG. 3C illustrates the fields that may be encrypted and those that remain unencrypted in the messages. As shown in the drawing, the system encrypts the content or data field 312, which corresponds to the content/data 36 of the conventional business mail illustrated in FIG. 3A. The address information 306, 308 and as appropriate 315 and the franking information 310, that is, the information that corresponds to the information 32-34 printed on a conventional envelope 30, remain unencrypted. Thus, the messages directed over the electronic business postal system 100 retain the privacy of the document content/data, as is done using conventional paper-based mail pieces, in conformance with postal regulations and conventions.

(33) The system 100 may communicate with alternative carriers that operate in additional countries or territories. The system thus transfers a message to an alternative carrier through an appropriate network connection, and in a manner that meets the requirements of applicable postal system national and international conventions and agreements that direct postal system operations for delivery of mail within the countries or territories.

(34) As discussed above, the system may include hybrid access portals 105 (FIG. 2) that are utilized by the Postal Network or other carrier services to provide the electronic business mailings in paper form to local physical delivery addresses. By using the structured documents, the business mailings may be printed and enclosed in envelopes with strategically placed cutouts for the information from the address fields 306, 308 and 315, and/or the documents may be strategically formatted and folded or paginated, to maintain the privacy of the data contained in the content/data field 312.

(35) Referring to FIG. 4, the system may operate with many different types of secure collection and clearance devices, such as electronic mail boxes 402 or other transmission devices 404, that communicate with the access portals to authenticate the users and operate with included secured message servers and system nodes, to process the electronic business mailings into messages and route the messages over the system. The devices thus operate with the security capabilities 103 discussed above to ensure that the included message servers and nodes operate using the appropriate system processes and also that they can not be tampered with without detection.

(36) The system 100 may group the system nodes 102 according to global regions, such as cites, states or countries, and/or local regions, such as towns, and/or associated individuals, such as selected company employees or departments. The system may, for example, group the system nodes in a manner that corresponds to Postal Network country codes and/or zip codes or territory codes, for efficient operation of the delivery subsystem and, in particular, the address registries 111. As discussed above, the delivery subsystem may direct messages to nodes within groups, which thereafter direct the messages to the destination nodes or nodes within other groups or subgroups thereof, and so forth.

(37) The system may also include multiple delivery addresses for a given user, and allow the user to set preferences for a given delivery or a given time period, and so forth. The system may also allow the user to select different electronic and/or physical delivery addresses for different types of electronic business mailings, e.g., from particular senders or including particular content such as invoices, payment authorizations, and so forth. Alternatively or in addition, the system may allow the user to select different electronic and/or physical delivery addresses for vacation periods and so forth.

(38) The electronic business postal system 100 provides users with all of the advantages of the paper-based Postal Network, and also provides the distinct advantages of not only eliminating the paper in traditional mail but also ensuring delivery of intact electronic business mailings, that is, ensuring that a business document is not lost enroute and yet assumed to be delivered, or the document is not partially or totally rendered unintelligible by improper handling by the Postal Network. In addition, the system 100 has distinct advantages over existing on-line services, provided, for example, by banks, that allow an authenticated user to view certain of their account while, at the same time, keeping all of the account information under the control of the bank. The system 100 instead provides the users with control over their information, similar to the control a user has over the information contained in paper statements of their accounts, yet without the need for paper and without sacrificing the security of the information. For example, the system 100 can maintain the user's account data over time, such that the user can read back through older data at any time. In addition, the user can send all or a portion of the data to others, such as his/her accountant, at any time in a secure manner by including the data in an electronic business mailing directed over the system.

(39) As discussed above, the electronic business postal system 100 provides users equal access to send and retrieve electronic business mailings, in the same sense that the Postal Network provides equal access to users of paper-based business mail. Also, with the equal access and further based on the fact that users have unlimited access to the content of their electronic business mailings, and the electronic business mailings are structured documents that present content in a consistent form that can be entered and interpreted by various operating systems, the system 100 is a neutral system in the sense described by the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) in the document entitled Charter of Consumer Rights in the Digital World, DOC No:INFOSOC 37-38, issued March 2008. Further, the system 100 satisfies many of the consumer rights set forth by the TACD that are not met by known prior systems.

(40) The foregoing description has been limited to a specific embodiment of this invention. It will be apparent, however, that variations and modifications may be made to the invention, the clearance operations may be performed at some or all of the system nodes, selected system nodes may perform certain but not all of the clearance operations, processes and processors shown separately may be combined and the processes performed by a given processor may be performed by combinations of processors, the processes may be performed in hardware, software or firmware, or any combination thereof, certain processes may be performed in different orders, the system may be used to deliver electronic non-business mail that meets the requirements of the structured document and franking, with the attainment of some or all of its advantages. Therefore, it is the object of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.