Visit verification

摘要

The invention relates to a system and method for tracking clients as they visit the locations of various recipients. Clients have access to telephones and identification devices which the client can use to communicate with a remote computer. The computer uses information received during the communication to identify and authenticate the client making the communication and the location of the client at the time of the communication. Authentication is accomplished by obtaining unique biometric parameters from a client over the phone and comparing those to biometric parameters in a database. Biometric data can include a voice print sampled during the call, or a finger or retinal print electronically transmitted during the call. Because each of these identifiers results from a physiological characteristic which is unique to the client, the system assures that the identified client is the client making the communication. The system can include logic for identifying the address of a cellular phone at the time a phone call is placed. The logic does not require an automatic number identification (ANI). In fact, the ANI of a cellular phone may not provide any location information because the phone itself is mobile. Instead the logic uses information provided by the cellular carrier to identify the origin of the call with regard to the cell stations receiving the call. Accordingly, the client can be tracked when the client is using a cellular phone to communicate with the computer.