TOGETHER

Technical Field

The invention is related to a system and method allowing people who are specialized in a subject matter or provide consultancy services on their profession to reach people who may want to consult them across the world, or similarly allowing people who are in need of knowledge and support on any matter to reach experts who might help them across the world, allowing the parties to hold online, live and video meetings via the Internet and allowing the experts to receive a fee from their clients in return for the service they provide.

Prior Art

Today, when people need information, support or assistance on a matter, they ask their friends to do researches on the internet in order to find an expert to consult. After finding the person to consult, they make an appointment via the website or phone number and go to the workplace of the expert, have a face to face meeting and pay its price.

However, the number of experts that may be reached by asking friends is just a few. Unfortunately, the information obtained as a result of searches done on the Internet is not up-to-date and usable all the time. Old addresses and phone numbers, good-bad comments on experts by unaccredited people create large information pollution. Therefore, current applications include various negativities both for the experts and the people who want to consult.

The person who wants to consult mostly hit the road hours before his / her appointment, and pays extras such as transportation and car part. Since the expert needs to host those coming to his / her office; he / she also needs to allocate extra time and budget to rent, personnel, cleaning and offerings.

Additionally, the current application is dependent on space. In other words, the person who wants to consult makes a choice among the experts who can be reached easily. Similarly, the client portfolio of an expert consists of people who can come to his / her office and visit him / her physically. It is mostly not likely for the expert to meet people in cities and countries other than his / her location. Without office visits, phone or current voice and wide meeting software are insufficient for professional service exchange by interviewing. This is because of the fact that, these kinds of systems do not provide a solution about the payment. Furthermore, as in the first method, it is only capable of meeting people whose communication information is already known; and it does not have characteristics to address scalable, wide groups of occupations and to spread across the world.

Currently, there are mobile applications which are only available to provide psychological counseling and target therapy. One of these applications is a text message based mobile application where only a single psychiatrist (or a group of psychiatrists) provides service and aims to earn money. However, this application does not include a system and method which will allow everyone who is an expert on a matter to register and provide consultancy services, earn money by identifying his / her own working hours, meeting durations and prices, and will take the place of today’s physical offices in time, and will allow people to carry out their consultancy based works over the Internet in a fast, practical and economic way. Furthermore, these applications do not include a video meeting feature and a language support to allow meetings in different languages.

The abstract of the patent application No. 2018/09567 obtained as a result of technical researches is as follows; “The invention is related to an education, guidance and counselling system and method developed in a way to work on smart phones and all devices having an operating system in order to allow students particularly with a university, high school, middle school and prior education / psychiatrist level to make an informed choice for their profession, career and live style.”

As seen, the system is related to an educational counselling system, and there is no mention of a configuration which may provide a solution to disadvantages mentioned above.

Consequently, it was required to engage into a new development in the related technical field due to above-mentioned problems and insufficiency of current solutions on the issue.

Objective of Invention The invention aims to provide a structure having different technical features bringing a new initiative in this field different than configurations used in the current art.

The prior objective of the invention is to provide a system and method allowing people who want to consult to select experts to consult from a large database and make an appointment with them, allowing them to meet online and make a secure money transaction between themselves, and providing solution with a platform made of mobile and web applications.

An objective of the invention is to provide a system and method wherein people who are expert on a subject (includes people from many professions such as doctors, lawyers, academicians, engineers, teachers, psychologists, nutritionists, life coaches or people who improved and trained themselves and specialized on any field) register the Platform by entering their information such as photos, CVs, contact information, social media accounts and creating packages by specifying the hours they can accept appointments over the system, their meeting durations and prices per meeting. Following the completion of the registration, the expert is listed in search results made by all users across the world who use the website and mobile applications of the platform.

Another objective of the invention is to allow people to search the expert to consult on the database of the platform, and make a selection among registered experts when they need any information, support or assistance. The person who wants to consult makes a selection among service packages provided by the expert who fits to him / her in terms of duration and cost, and the payment is made to a bank account of the platform via credit card or money transfer / EFT.

Another objective of the invention is to start an online meeting between platform parties when the expert and client log in the platform over the website or mobile application on the date and time of appointment. It will be possible to hold this meeting with text, voice or with voice and video. During the meeting, the parties will be provided with additional features such as drawing board and file sharing. The meetings may be held one to one, and the platform will support group meetings as well.

When the meeting is completed, the price already transferred to the bank account of the platform beforehand will be transferred to the bank account of the expert after the service fee of the platform is deducted. If the consultant does not start or complete the meeting, the price will be returned to the account of the client without any deduction. The system described above will remove limitations based on space in consultancy services. People who want to consult will be able to make an appointment with experts from any part of the world and have a chance to have meetings with them. Since all the information belongs to the experts who are providing service actively, the information obtained over the platform will be up-to-date. There will be no extra costs such as time spent on the road and car park fees. Money exchange will be secure and fast. If the user cannot receive service in return for the price he / she has paid, this price will be returned to him / her. Competitive conditions and decreased costs provided by the platform will allow people to reach more quality service more economically compared to current methods.

From experts’ side, providing online service means to reach the opportunity to reach millions of customers from their own location and open the doors of an unlimited global market. Office and personnel costs will decrease or will be zero. Since the fees they will pay for the platform will be way less compared to the gains provided by the platform, their profitability will increase. As the platform organizes appointments and transactions automatically, the experts will only focus on their work and thereby work more efficiently.

The method of the invention will also provide millions of people, who could not establish their own business as they don’t have an entrepreneurial spirit or financial capability, with the opportunity to have a business and earn money.

In order to achieve the objectives described above, the invention is a system allowing people who are specialized in certain subjects or provide consultancy services on their profession to reach people who may want to consult them across the world, or similarly allowing people who are in need of knowledge and support on any matter to reach experts who might help them across the world, allowing the parties to hold online, live and video meetings via the Internet and allowing the experts to receive a fee from their clients in return for the service they provide, characterized by comprising;

• User side software ensuring interaction of visitors, users and experts with the system through smart devices,

• Server side software responding the requests from the user side software and checking the relevant servers,

• Web service ensuring the storage of programs and codes related to the user interface in the user side software, • Storage service ensuring the storage of files such as user and expert photos, videos, reports, etc.,

• Database service to keep information on registered users and experts, appointment records, transaction records and records related to parameters used by the user side software,

• Authentication service to save user name and password information of users registered in the system and to decide approving or rejecting the login attempt by checking this information of the person attempting to log in the system,

• Video call service allowing to make and maintain video conversation connection between the user and expert,

• Payment service allowing transferring money between the user and expert.

Structural and characteristic specifications as well as all advantages of the invention will be understood more clearly with the Figures provided below and the detailed description written with reference to these Figures, and thus, evaluation should be made by considering these Figures and detailed description.

Figures that Help to Clarify the Invention

Figure 1 is the general view of the system of the invention.

Figure 2 is the general view of the method of the invention.

Figure 3 is the flow diagram view of the registration of a visitor (V) in the system as a“user (U)”.

Figure 4 is the flow diagram view of the registration of a visitor (V) in the system as an“expert (E)”.

Figure 5 is the flow diagram view of the process of making an appointment with the selection of an expert (E) by the user (U).

Figure 6 is the flow diagram view of the interview of the user (U) and the expert (E).

The Figures are not necessarily scaled, and some unnecessary details might be discarded for the better understanding of the present invention. Additionally, elements which are at least substantially identical or elements which have at least substantially identical functions are shown with the same number. Description of Part References

10. Internet

20. User side (Front end) software

21. Smart device (Mobile device, tablet or computer)

30. Server side (Back end) software

40. Web service

50 Storage Service

60. Database Service

70. Authentication Service

80. SMS Service

90. Video call Service

100. Payment Service

1 10. Camera, microphone, light equipment

U. User

E. Expert

V. Visitor

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description, preferred embodiments of the invention are described for a better understanding of the subject matter and in a way not to lead to a limiting effect.

The invention is related to a system and method allowing people who are specialized in a subject matter or provide consultancy services on their profession to reach people who may want to consult them across the world, or similarly allowing people who are in need of knowledge and support on any matter to reach experts who might help them across the world, allowing the parties to hold online, live and video meetings via the Internet and allowing the experts to receive a fee from their clients in return for the service they provide.

At first, experts (E) who want to provide service and generate income over the platform register in the platform. In order to register in the platform, an expert will need to connect to the website of the platform over the Internet (10) by using a smart device (21 ) which is a personal computer, tablet or mobile phone. Thereby, the user side (front end) software (20) is run on the Internet browser of the expert (E) and the expert (E) starts the registration function by clicking on the related button (2000). During the registration, the expert (E) is asked for information to be shown on his / her profile page to introduce himself / herself to other users (U) such as his / her name, surname, photo, CV, profession and expertise areas, contact information, addresses of social media accounts, and if any, work samples and references. The expert (E) will also determine his / her service days and hours as well as the duration and price of his / her meeting packages (50 Turkish Lira for 10 minutes of meeting, 120 Turkish Lira for 30 minutes of meeting, etc.) at this stage. This information entered by the expert (E) over the user side software (20) and the files he / she uploaded will be sent to the server side (back end) software (30). The server side software (30) creates a new expert account on the authentication service (70), and records the data in the database service (60) and the files in the storage service (50). The platform may ask for a subscription fee for the use of certain or all functions. If payment by expert (E) is required, this payment will also be made by using the payment service (100) at the stage of registration.

Experts (E) who complete the registration fully will become visible in results of the search made on the website and mobile applications of the platform, may provide consultancy services over the system, and collect money in return for this service.

People who are not registered in the system, namely the visitors (V) may make searches by entering a field of expertise or name of a person, and see the basic information of experts (E) among the search results. However, visitors (V) may not reach detailed profile information of experts (E). To do so, they will need to register in the platform as a user (U) and start the user registration function (1000) by clicking on the user registration button from the user side software (20) running on the mobile application or on the Internet browser. Name, surname, contact information and preferably, photos are uploaded to the user side software (20) and sent to the server side software (30). The server side software (30) creates a new user account on the authentication service (70), and records the data in the database service (60), and if any, the photos in the storage service (50). Following these actions, the visitor (V) is defined in the platform as a user (U), and may utilize from the function provided to a user (U) as long as he / she logs in the system. These functions include accessing to profile pages of experts (E) including detailed information such as their contact information, CV, social media accounts, meeting packages they sell, etc., purchasing a consultancy package (3000) and making live meeting (4000). Experts (E) registered in the system may do anything a user (U) can do but the opposite of this does not work.

If a user wants to purchase consultancy service (3000) on a field, he / she first makes a search over the user side software (20) in order to find a consultant. The user side software (20) sends the request to the server side software (30) over the Internet (10). The server side software (30) collects the required information from the services connected to it (40, 50, 60, 70), sends it to the user side software (20) and this information is shown to the user (U). The user (U) examines the experts (E) shown as a result of the search, determines the date and time of the appointment by clicking the suitable meeting package from the profile page of the expert he / she wants to receive the service. He / she will need to make payment for the confirmation of the appointment process. He / she can make the payment with credit card or money transfer / EFT from the bank as soon as he / she chooses the date and time of the appointment. For this transaction, the user side software (20) connects to the payment service via the Internet (100) and the collected money is transferred to the bank account of the platform. After the payment is made, the appointment is confirmed and an information message is sent to the mobile phone of the user (U) and the appointed expert (E) by the use of SMS service (80).

On the appointment date and time, the expert (E) and the user (U) log in the system over the website or the mobile application to hold an online meeting (4000), and the system starts the meeting between parties by using the video call service (90). In the meantime, the expert (E) and the user (U) may use additional features such as common drawing board, file sharing, etc. which can be used from the user side software (20).

When the meeting is completed successfully, a service fee for the platform is deducted from the price transferred by the user (U) to the bank account of the platform following the reservation, and the remaining amount is transferred to the bank account of the expert (E) by using the payment service (100). If the expert (E) does not start or complete the meeting, the price will be returned to the account of the user (U) by using the payment service (100) without making any deduction.

The process steps carried out with the method of the invention are as follows:

• Visitors (V), who are not registered in the system, are defined as users (U) in the system with registration (1000), o Visitors (V) use their smart devices (21 ) and run the user side software

(20) (1001 ),

^■ If the system is used over web browser, codes of the user side software (20) are transmitted to the browser by the web service (40),

^■ Internet (10) connection is established between the user side software (20) and server side software (30),

o The visitor (V) enters the information asked from him / her in the relevant field for user registration and uploads his / her photo on the user side software (20) and such information and files are sent to the server side software (30) (1002),

^■ The server side software (30) creates a new account on the authentication service (70), and saves the entered information in the database service (60), and the photo file in the storage service (50).

o The visitor (V) is defined as a user (U), and utilize the possibilities provided by the platform for users (U) (1003),

• Visitors (V), who are not registered in the system, are defined as experts (E) in the system with registration (2000), o The visitor (V) connects to the web service (40) over the Internet (10) by entering the address of the system in the Internet browser in his / her smart device (21 ) / personal computer, and the user side software (20) start to run on the Internet browser (2001 ),

^■ Internet (10) connection is established between the user side software (20) and server side software (30),

o The visitor (V) enters the information asked from him/her in the relevant field for consultant registration, uploads requested files such as photo, CV, etc. on the user side software (20), and these information and files are sent to the server side software (30) by the user side software (20) (2002),

^■ The server side software (30) creates a new account on the authentication service (70), ^■ The information entered by the visitor are saved in the database service (60) and the files added are saved in the storage service (50),

o The user side software (20) shows the visitor (V) the information about paid and free subscription package provided by the platform and waits for his / her selection (2003),

o The visitor (V) checks whether he / she has selected a package with a duration and price suitable for him / her (2004), o The visitor is waited for the payment of the price of the subscription package he / she has selected through the user side software (20) and the Internet (10) by connecting to the payment service (100) (2005), o It is checked whether or not the payment of the price has been approved (2006),

o The visitor (V) enters the days and times he / she will provide service over the platform as an expert (E), and durations and prices of meeting package he / she will provide on the user side software (20), and the server side software (30) registers this information (2007),

o The visitor (V) is assigned as an expert (E) on the system, and utilizes from the opportunities provided by the system for experts (E) (2008),

• Users (U) find an expert (E) to meet, purchase an appointment and meeting package and make the payment (3000),

o Visitors (V) use their smart devices (21 ) and run the user side software (20) (3001 ),

^■ If the system is used over web browser, codes of the user side software (20) are transmitted to the browser by the web service (40),

^■ Internet (10) connection is established between the user side software (20) and server side software (30),

o The visitor (V) writes the profession, field of expertise he / she wants to consult on or directly the name of the consultant he / she is looking for on the search field on the user side software (20) (3002), o The user side software (20) request is transmitted to the server side software (30) (3003),

o The server side software (30) checks whether the visitor (V) making the request is registered in the system as a user (U) by using the authentication service (70) (3004),

o It is checked whether the visitor (V) is registered and logged in the system (3005),

o The server side software (30) makes a search on the database service (60) and sends the relevant results and associated files such as images, CV, etc. obtained them from the storage service (50) to the user side software (20) (3006),

o The user (U) examines the results (3007),

o The user (U) checks whether he / she can take an appointment from the expert (E) he / she has examined (3008),

o The user (U) makes a selection among the meeting packages provided by the expert (E) he / she has found, and selects the appointment day and time for the meeting (3009),

o The user (U) enters the payment information on the user side software (20) and the server side software (30) connects to the payment service (100) via the Internet (10) and completes the transaction (3010), o It is checked whether or not the payment of the user (U) has been approved (301 1 ),

o A confirmation SMS including the date and time of the appointment made is sent to the user (U) and the expert (E) with the use of the SMS service (80) on the server side software (30) (3012),

o The visitor (V) registers in the system as a user (U), or if he / she is already registered, asked for logging in (3013),

• The user (U) and the expert (E) make an online meeting (4000),

o The user (U) and the expert (E) run the user side software (20) by using their smart devices (21 ) when the time of their appointment gets closer, and log in the platform with their account information (4001 ), The user side software (20) opens the confirmation screen for both parties a certain while before the appointment time, and ask them to confirm that they are ready for the meeting (4002),

Both parties confirm that they are ready for the meeting (4003),

It is checked whether the user (U) and the expert (E) have given confirmation (4004),

A live meeting is started between the parties on the time of the appointment with the use of the user side software (20), server side software (30), video call service (90) and the Internet (10) (4005),

■ The meeting is continued for the duration of the package purchased by the user (U),

^■ If necessary, experts (E) use advanced camera, sound and light equipment (1 10) during the meeting,

he server side software (30) checks the records kept in the database service (60) to confirm that the meeting is ended normally (4006),

It is checked whether the meeting is completed without any problems (4007),

The service fee of the platform is deducted from the meeting price received from the user (U), and the remaining amount is transferred to the bank account of the expert (E) with the use of the payment service (10)

(4008),

The user (U) and the expert (E) are provided with the choices to retry the meeting at another time or to return the price (4009).