1. A voice server, comprising a processor configured to perform operations including:
authenticating a user based on a voice exemplar received by the voice server, wherein the voice server is in direct communication with an access device associated with the user;
receiving voice inputs from the access device, converting the voice inputs into a user request, and sending the user request to a protocol server among a plurality of protocol servers, wherein each of the protocol servers is configured to communicate with a transaction server which is in direct communication with a plurality of legacy systems, the transaction server is configured to receive the user request and provide responsive information from the plurality of legacy systems based on the user request, each of the protocol servers includes an application programming interface server, and the transaction server includes an application programming interface client configured to communicate with each application programming interface server,
providing a menu of operations associated with the plurality of legacy systems to the access device; and
receiving the responsive information and formatting the responsive information into an output for the access device, including choosing from among a plurality of output formats comprising speech synthesized data and text data, wherein if the user request is a data-intensive request, the responsive information is not output via speech synthesized data, and wherein the data-intensive request comprises a request for service order details to be retrieved from the plurality of legacy systems.
2. The voice server of claim 1, wherein the voice inputs include a selection of an option and data for that option.
3. The voice server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to provide a speech synthesized prompt to the access device.
4. The voice server of claim 3, wherein the prompt requests that the user select an operation associated with the plurality of legacy systems.
5. The voice server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to convert text to speech.
6. The voice server of claim 1, wherein the responsive information is received from a protocol server.
7. The voice server of claim 5, wherein the responsive information received from the protocol server is forwarded from the transaction server.
8. The voice server of claim 6, wherein the responsive information is based on a legacy transaction generated by the transaction server.
9. The voice server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether a volume of responsive information exceeds an amount that can be output by the access device.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system comprising:
an incentive processor configured to facilitate allocation of loyalty points;
a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor;
a conversion rules database configured to convert general loyalty points into a first merchant loyalty dollar value;
a conversion rules database configured to convert general loyalty points into a second merchant loyalty dollar value; and
a consumer accounts database having a general loyalty point database configured to store the general loyalty points and a plurality of merchant loyalty dollar value databases configured to store the first merchant loyalty dollar value and the second merchant loyalty dollar value.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is located within at least one of a remotely accessible host and a smart card.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the conversion rules database is configured to interact with a promotion rules database.
4. The system of claim 1, further comprising an incentive engine configured to provide a suggestion of various awards to a consumer for which the consumer is eligible based upon the loyalty points generated by the consumer.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an incentive engine configured to operate in at least one of real-time and batch mode with respect to storing the general loyalty points and the merchant loyalty dollar values in the consumer accounts database.
6. The system of claim 1, further comprising an enrollment module configured to enroll at least one of consumers and merchants.
7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a participating merchant database in communication with an enrollment module.
8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a promotion rules database configured to determine that at least one of a reward and the general loyalty points are earned based on transaction data.
9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a transfer module for transferring at least a portion of the second merchant loyalty dollar value into the first merchant loyalty dollar value for use in a transaction.
10. A method comprising:
converting, by a computer-based system for allocating points, general loyalty points into a first merchant loyalty dollar value;
converting, by a computer-based system for allocating points, general loyalty points into a second merchant loyalty dollar value; and
storing, by the computer-based system and in a consumer accounts database, the general loyalty points, the first merchant loyalty dollar value, and the second merchant loyalty dollar value.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the consumer accounts database includes a general loyalty point database and a plurality of merchant loyalty dollar value databases.
12. The method of claim 10, further comprising transferring, by the computer-based system, at least a portion of the second merchant loyalty dollar value into the first merchant loyalty dollar value for use in a transaction.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the computer-based system is located within at least one of a remotely accessible host and a smart card.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing a suggestion of various awards to a consumer for which the consumer is eligible based upon the loyalty points generated by the consumer.
15. The method of claim 10, further comprising storing, in at least one of real-time and batch mode, the general loyalty points and the merchant loyalty dollar values in the consumer accounts database.
16. The method of claim 10, further comprising enrolling at least one of consumers and merchants.
17. The method of claim 10, further comprising authenticating consumer IDs.
18. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining that at least one of a reward and the general loyalty points are earned based on transaction data.
19. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving a conversion request for converting the general loyalty points.
20. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer-based incentive system for allocating points, cause the computer-based system to be capable of performing operations comprising:
converting, by a computer-based system for allocating points, general loyalty points into a first merchant loyalty dollar value;
converting, by a computer-based system for allocating points, general loyalty points into a second merchant loyalty dollar value; and
storing, by the computer-based system and in a consumer accounts database, the general loyalty points, the first merchant loyalty dollar value, and the second merchant loyalty dollar value.