FORM-2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2006
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
(See section 10; rule 13)


SYSTEM FOR INFORMATION COLLECTION
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED,
an Indian Company
of Nirmal Building, 9th floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021, Maharashtra, India.

THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION DESCRIBES THE INVENTION


FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of information collection.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART
Today, in order to overcome identity theft, identity fraud, money laundering and terrorist threats, all service providers are making policies to know their customers before opening any account or providing any service. One such norm is KYC (Know Your Customer) which enforces getting all customer identification information before providing any services to users.
The conventional information gathering methods require service providers to send a representative to users for manual writing the requested information on the printed forms. The conventional methods require a lot of co-operation from the users as there may be language barriers. Moreover, handling of the identification papers and later entering the information on the systems are an added overhead for the service providers. Also, there is a possibility of human errors like spelling mistakes, incorrect entry of data and the like by the data entry operators due to the volume of the forms.
A lot of inconvenience is also caused while accepting feedback forms from customers. Many a times the feedback is not too legible thus, is not of any value to the service providers.
There is therefore a need for a system that will overcome the above shortcomings by providing a means to accept information including identification details, feedback and the like from users. There is also a need for a modern and innovative way of collecting user information which will
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ease and make the process of collecting user information error and paper free.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a user friendly system for collecting information.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a paperless means for collecting information.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a multi-lingual system for collecting information.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a platform independent system for information collection.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an efficient system for collecting information.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a cost effective system for collecting information.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention envisages an information collection system which eases the process of collecting user information by using a mobile phone.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention the mobile phone will have an embedded client application which will facilitate

exchange of information between the mobile phone and a central application server.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the client application can run on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) as well as GSM (Global System of Mobile communication) mobile phones. The client application can be hosted on small and medium sized mobile phones having a reasonable amount of memory and a good screen size.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the client application supports different features like multiple language recognition, GPS (Global Positioning System), biometric scan, voice recording, voice recognition for voice based authentication and a PIM2R (Packet Interactive Multimedia Response) voice prompt with menu options.
According to another aspect of the present invention, users can give their feedback by listening to a voice prompt and providing answers either by pressing 0-9 keys or recording the answers. Moreover, users can create, view, share or update their profile using the client application.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the client application hosted on the mobile phone interacts with the server application which in turns saves the data in the database. If the operation is successful the client receives a confirmation message from the server.
According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the application server maintains the connectivity with the client application through channels including GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), IR
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(InfraRed), Bluetooth and the like. Typically, the application server provides users with an input form having the requested data. The application server receives user profile and feedback from the client application. Once it receives the data from the client, it sends an acknowledgment on successful storage of the received data.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the typical steps of collecting information from users include:
• invoking the client application hosted on the users' mobile phone;
• receiving client application prompts for language selection;
• selecting a language;
• submitting authentication information like voice snippet and biometric scan to the client application;
• receiving the questions requested by the client application;
• answering the questions by pressing 0-9 keys or by voice recording;
• establishing a network connection between the client and server application;
• sending the data to the server application;
• writing the data to the information repository;
• sending a confirmation message to the client application;
• terminating the network connection; and
• closing the client application.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying drawings in which,
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Figure 1 illustrates setup of the information collection system in accordance with the present invention; and
Figure 2 illustrates a schematic of the application server in accordance with the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which do not limit the scope and ambit of the invention. The description provided is purely by way of example and illustration.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information collection system facilitates collection of user information and feedback.
Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a typical setup of the information collection system. The user profile information and feedback is collected through a mobile phone. Figure 2 illustrates a block diagram of the application server.
For availing this service, users need to register their details including User Name, Mobile Number, Date of Birth and the like with the application server represented by block 10 of Figure 2. On successful registration, users can use their registered mobile phones to communicate with the application server 10 for creating, updating or viewing their information.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mobile phone is embedded with a client application which communicates with the application server 10 using communication channels including
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GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), IR (InfraRed), Bluetooth and the like. The mobile phone also incorporates a means for recording voice and a scanner for taking a biometric scan for the purpose of authentication of the user.
In accordance with the present invention, the first time a registered user invokes the client application on the mobile phone, the mobile phone establishes a connection with application server 10 and prompts the user to select the language of his/her choice and mode of communication. The mode of communication available to the users includes:
• 'Non-Voice' based i.e. providing answers and/or information by pressing keys 0-9 or typing the information out; and
• 'Voice' based i.e. client application will ask specific questions in the language chosen by the user;
In addition, user is prompted to record his voice and provide a biometric scan for authentication purposes. The user credentials and preferences are received by the User Interface (UI) represented by block 12 of Figure 2. The UI 12 records the user's credentials and preferences and stores them in the information repository represented by block 18 of Figure 2.
The successive client application invocations prompt the user to provide at least the biometric scan and/or the voice snippet for authentication. These credentials are sent to the Authentication Engine (AE) represented by block 16 of Figure 2. The AE 16 receives the credentials and matches them with the stored samples; the user is allowed access to his/her stored profile on successful authentication.
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In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, authorized users can access their profile, provide feedback for any service/product or take part in a survey and request for profile of other users. These requests are received by the Query Engine (QE) represented by block 16 of Figure 2. QE 16 based on the users request retrieves data from the information repository 18 and passes it to the UI 12. The UI 12 based on the users' language and mode of communication preference presents the information to the user.
The information repository 18 is the central database which stores user information including user profile details, user credentials, user preferences and the like. In addition, the repository stores the feedback and information received from the users.
Typically, service providers can have a tie-up with the application server 10. When a user wants to avail any service or buy a new product, using the present invention users can forward their profile details to the service providers for registration and identification purposes thus eliminating the need to give identification proof each time.
Using the present invention users can give feedbacks on new products; take
part in surveys and polls.
The technical advancements of the present invention include:
• providing a user friendly system for collecting information from users;
• providing an efficient system that eliminates the need for manual collection of information on paper;
• providing a multi-lingual system for collecting information;
• providing a platform independent system for collecting information;
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• providing a cost effective system for collecting information;
• providing a system for collecting information which reduces manpower;
• providing a system for collecting information which processing client requests quickly, thus, saves time;
• providing an accurate system for collecting information which reduces human mistakes and errors;
• providing a system for collecting information which requires minimum infrastructure and low maintenance;
• providing a system for collecting information which enables service providers to collect profile of customers who buy a new product;
• providing a system for collecting information which enables service providers to collect feedback of the users after the launch of a new product; and
• providing a system for collecting information which enables authorities like governments and NGO's to collect information of families including vaccination information, family planning details, literacy and the like.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the particular features of this invention, it will be appreciated that various modifications can be made, and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other modifications in the nature of the invention or the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing
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descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.