Many businesses transactions require acknowledgement data to be displayed on a viewer (e.g., customer or client). In one common situation, a business needs to display data (e.g., in the form of documents) to a customer but only for a limited duration. In another common situation, a business needs to display data to a customer but only for the time needed for the customer to acknowledge the data (e.g., by the customer signing a document). Current methods for displaying data for acknowledgement (i.e., view and/or signing) can require a customer travel to a business location (e.g., a branch), view the data on a hard paper copy or on a computer screen, and if necessary, sign the hard paper copy of the document. If signing is required, the signed document is scanned typically using a scanner into data storage used by the business. These methods of displaying data and/or obtaining acknowledgments can be problematic for several reasons.
Manual processes for printing and exchanging paper, then collecting a signature, assembling the paper to be later scanned, and delivered manually can cause administrative overhead and an overall delay in processing. Displaying data to a customer at a branch location can be problematic, because the customer may need to view the data prior to visiting the branch. Also, the displayed data may be large or otherwise unsuitable for easy viewing as a paper printout (e.g., a large table). If an agent attempts to show the data to the customer on her computer, which is typically connected to the business'internal computing network, the customer could gain access to data that the company prefers to keep private. Another problem with current methods is that when a hard copy paper document is signed by a client, there may be document and/or scanning errors that go undetected, requiring that the customer travel back to the business location a second time. As a result, the customer can be inconvenienced.
Other known methods for displaying data to a customer to obtain acknowledgment involve using tethered devices. For example, during check-out at a grocery store, a small screen is typically provided to a credit card user so that the customer can electronically sign for the credit charge. The small screen is tethered to a cash register. These devices are insufficient in situations involving customer viewing of a large amount of data, and require the customer to travel to the branch location. Further, tethered devices require a physical connection to the computer from which the data is originating. Physically connecting computing devices to tethered displays can be time consuming, costly and impractical. Further, tethered devices do not allow for viewing and/or acknowledgment at a location beyond the distance of the physical wiring. Additionally, these proprietary technical solutions can limit rapid scaling of a solution and can greatly limit the solution from taking advantage of advances in technology.
Therefore, it is desirable to display data for acknowledgement at a location that can be remote from a device that is requesting the data be displayed. It is also desirable to display data for acknowledgment purposes that prevents the customer from accessing any internal systems of the business. It is also desirable to display data for acknowledgment on a screen that is large enough and/or has the capability for the customer to read easily a large amount of data. It is also desirable to display data for acknowledgment without having to add computer hardware to connect devices.