MXPA00010146A - Advertising method by using ring-back tone - Google Patents

Abstract

An advertising method by using a ring-back tone is provided. A controller employed in a sender-side switching system recognizes a sender's telephone number and a receiver's telephone number dialed at the sender's telephone set. Then the receiver's telephone number is transmitted to a receiver-side switching system at a calling stage. The receiver-side switching system checks the state of the receiver's telephone, e.g., ready or busy, and, subsequently, send, e.g., a ring-back tone in conformity to the state to the sender-side switching system. The sender-side switching system receives the ring-back tone. In case the ring-back tone is a busy tone, the sender-side switching system forwards the busy tone to the sender's telephone set. Otherwise, that is, the ring-back tone is a ringing tone which implies that the receiver's telephone is ready to receive a call, the sender-side switching system searches registered member information by consulting a database linked to the controller and checks if the receiver's telephone number matches a registered member in the database. If the sender is determined not to be a registered member, the sender-side switching system forwards the ring-back tone;otherwise, it sends a predetermined advertisement message stored in an advertisement memory to the sender's telephone set. If a response, e.g., a hook-off, from the receiver's telephone is perceived or if the sender terminates the call, the sender-side switching system stops the sending of the advertisement message.

Description

"PUBLICITY METHOD, USING CALL SIGNAL TONE" TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an advertising method using a call signal tone. More particularly, the present invention provides an advertising method wherein a call tone in which an advertising message or a campaign is stored is sent to the sender, instead of sending the usual ringing tone that is heard by dialing until the recipient answers the phone.

ANTECEDENTS OF THE TECHNIQUE When a sender dials to communicate on a wired or wireless telephone, the receiving party hears the telephone call and picks up the telephone handset. Here, it takes about 3 to 10 seconds until the receiving person picks up the phone after hearing the phone call. During this period of time, the sender hears a signal sound which implies that a call signal is being transmitted to the recipient's telephone apparatus. This signal sound is called a ringing tone, which is classified into a busy tone that represents that the receiving person's telephone is currently being used and a resonant tone that represents that the receiving person's telephone is ready to receive a call. Various sounds can be used for the ring tone, depending on the type of telephone set or the switching system. However, it is common for the general sound of the phone call to be used as a ring tone so that the resonant tone can be distinguished from the busy tone. The call signal tone is selected from a memory, e.g., a Rom that is installed in the switching system of a telephone office, to be transmitted to the sender. Correspondingly, the sender only hears just one type of ringing tone as long as the Rom in the switching system is not changed. Figures la and Ib represent the construction of the conventional switching system for a wired telephone. The detailed description of the switching system is as follows: The telephone set of each of the subscribers is connected by wire to the subscriber's board consisting of a subscriber interface circuit and an analog / digital transducer, and the subscriber's board it is connected with a time switch. The switching system is equipped with a controller that controls each of the devices constituting the switching system, e.g., the subscriber's board or the time switch. A database is linked directly or indirectly to the controller in order to store the information about the subscribers. The time switch is connected to a memory, the Tone Rom, and it is also connected to another switching system through a trunk line. Figures 2a and 2b are functional diagrams showing the conventional method of making a telephone call. First, as soon as the transmit signal from the sender (when the sender picks up the telephone transmitter) is perceived by the sender-side switching system, the dial tone implies that the sender is allowed to dial the telephone number of the receiving person is sent, and the sender presses the buttons in the dial to transmit the telephone number of the receiving person. When the switch on the sender's side receives the transmitted telephone number, it moves that number and tries to select a trunk line. If the sender-side switching system fails to select a trunk line, e.g., due to the shortage of the telephone circuit to speed up telephone traffic, or the damage of the telephone circuit, the sender is informed of the impossibility of calling. If you successfully select a trunk line and it is linked to the switching system on the receiving person's side, the received telephone number is sent to the switching system on the receiving person's side by means of a sender-side switching system. Then, the switching system on the receiving person's side checks the current state of a receiving person's telephone set. If the telephone of the receiving person is busy, the switching system on the receiving person's side sends a busy tone to the sender. If you are ready to receive a call, the switching system on the receiving party's side sends a ringing signal to the receiving party's telephone and at the same time sends a resonant tone to the sender-side switching system. The sender-side switching system sends the resonant tone from the switching system on the receiving person's side to the sender's telephone apparatus. When the receiving person picks up the handset of the telephone after hearing the telephone call (response signal), the switching system on the receiving person's side receives the response signal and builds a talking route to allow a telephone conversation. In the case of a wireless telephone such as a cell phone or PCS, the same procedure is experienced as that of the aforementioned wired telephone except that the trunk receives the telephone number that was transmitted wirelessly by the wired telephone and sends the telephone number. number to the central control device in a wired or wireless way. Meanwhile, the conventional advertising method using telephone communication has also been made known in Korea and abroad. For example, the free call service is in operation in Korea, in which anyone can use a charge-free payphone after hearing the advertising message that has flowed from the pay phone. That is, a predetermined telephone apparatus is equipped with a device that is capable of sending an advertisement message, and when the client connects with the receiving person, an advertising message is heard for a few seconds. As a payment for listening to the advertising message, the customer can use the phone for free or a few minutes. The similar free service system for a cordless phone is put into practical use in foreign countries. To be more specific, in case a registered number has already been applied for a free or non-paid service use telephone, the listener is supposed to hear the advertising messages in a periodic manner while being communicating. In this way, the member can take the free call service for a predetermined period of time in compensation with having listened to the advertising messages. In the case of the conventional advertising method like the previous one, however, the conversation between the sender and the recipient is forced to stop because the advertising message is flowing out during the conversation. In addition, there may be an inconvenience that the receiving person hangs up due to a wrong line crossing. A company of more than a certain scale would be able to have its own switching system and can air an advertisement for the good of the company while the operator of the company places a sender through a receiving person after the receipt of the sender's call. However, in this method of advertising, the scope of the advertising target can not avoid the limitation because this method is carried out independently of the switching system of the telephone office, and correspondingly, a class of specific persons. , that is, only those that are related to the company can be the object for advertising.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been invented to solve the problems as mentioned above, that is, the interruption of the conversation, the restriction of the advertising target, and the impossibility of advertising for calls that have no connection. The object of the present invention is to provide an advertising method using a call signal tone, wherein a subscriber can use the telephone more economically and the publisher can obtain maximum advertising effectiveness due to the process in which the content which is to be published can be downloaded from a server, stored in the switching system, and sent to the registered member as a ringing tone. With the aforementioned objects and construction, the present invention never causes harm to the recipient because advertising is carried out prior to the connection of the call, and ensures the continuity of the conversation since the advertising message never is heard during the conversation, thus providing the subscriber with freedom of selection according to their interest and membership record. In addition, the present invention can be applied to any telephone set using the switching system in a telephone office, so that the scope of the advertising target can be limited. In addition, a registered member can use the phone more cheaply listening to advertising messages, instead of feeling annoyed with the conventional call signal tone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figures la and Ib are conceptual diagrams showing the construction of the switching system for a conventional wireline telephone. Figures 2a and 2b are functional diagrams representing the conventional method for connecting a telephone call. Figures 3a and 3b are functional diagrams depicting the method for connecting a telephone call according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Figures 4a and 4b are functional diagrams depicting the method for connecting a telephone call in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.

CONSTRUCTION CARRIED TO THE OPTIMUM FOR THE MODALITY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the aforementioned objects, in the present invention, the sender-side switching system receives a dialing signal that is generated when the sender presses a telephone number, recognizes the sender's telephone number and the number of the sender. telephone of the receiving person and transmits the telephone number of the receiving person to the switching system on the receiving person's side. Then, the sender-side switching system continues to recognize the tone of the call signal that the switching system on the receiving person's side sends after receiving the telephone number of the receiving person. If the ringing tone is a busy tone, the sender-side switching system sends the busy tone to the sender's handset. Otherwise, that is, if the tone of the call signal is a resonant tone that implies that the telephone device de-lu ¬ the receiving person is ready to receive a call and a call signal is being sent, then, the sender-side switching system compares the sender's telephone number with the registered member's information stored in the database. If the sender determines that he is not a registered member, the sender-side switching system sends the resonant tone as it is to the sender's telephone apparatus; otherwise, a predetermined advertisement message stored in an advertisement memory is sent to the sender's telephone apparatus. Then, if a response is perceived, e.g., a survey of the device, of the telephone of the receiving person or if the sender terminates the call, the switching system on the sender's side stops sending the advertising message. The aforementioned advertising method can be applied to a cordless telephone as well as a wired one because the only difference between the wired and wireless system is in the process in which the telephone apparatus transmits the marked information to the switching system. That is, this process is carried out in a wire way in a wired system while it is carried out wirelessly in the wireless system.

Figures 3a and 3b are functional diagrams prepared on the basis of the above description. The more detailed description will be given below with reference to Figures 3a and 3b. First, as soon as the sender picks up the telephone transmitter, the transmit signal is sent to the sender side switching system. Then, the sender-side switching system returns a dial tone to the sender which implies that the recipient's telephone apparatus is ready to receive a marked information. The sender hears this dial tone and dials the recipient's telephone number to send it to the sender-side switching system. After receiving the transmitted telephone number, the sender-side switching system selects a trunk line to link this switching system which addresses the received telephone numbers, (ie, the switching system of the receiving person's side) . If the sender-side switching system fails to select a trunk line, e.g., due to shortage or damage to the telephone circuit, the sender-side switching system sends a signal to the sender implying that the call can not be connected. If a trunk is successfully selected and the sender-side switching system is linked to the switching system on the receiving person's side, the switching system on the receiving person's side is provided with the telephone number, and the receiver and then check that the current state of the receiver's handset. If the telephone of the receiving person is busy, the switching system on the receiving person's side sends a busy tone to the switching system on the sender's side; otherwise it sends a ringing signal to the receiving person's telephone apparatus and sends a ringing tone to the sender-side switching system which implies that a call signal is being sent to the receiving person's telephone apparatus. In the event that the ring tone is a busy tone, the sender-side switching system sends the busy tone as it is to the sender's telephone. If the ringing tone is a resonant tone, the sender-side switching system searches for the information of the registered member by referring to the database linked to the controller. If the sender's telephone number is determined to be one of a registered member, the sender-side switching system selects an appropriate advertisement message stored in an advertisement memory, depending on the age, sex or interest of the sender, and send it to the sender's telephone device; if the sender is not a registered member, the resonant tone that is received from the switching system on the receiving person's side is sent to the sender's telephone apparatus. From this point of time, the sender is supposed to listen to some predetermined advertising messages until the recipient picks up the phone or the sender himself (or herself) terminates the call. Then, if a response signal from the recipient's telephone apparatus (when the receiving person picks up the telephone receiver) is transmitted from the receiving person's switching system) or if the terminating signal from the sender's telephone apparatus (when the sender hangs up to the telephone transmitter) is perceived, the sender-side switching system stops sending advertising messages. In other words, when the receiving person picks up the handset of the telephone after hearing the telephone call (response signal), the switching system on the receiving person's side receives the response signal and sends it to the switching system on the side. from the sender. Then, the sender-side switching system stops sending the call signal tone and builds a talk route to allow a telephone conversation.

In order to achieve the aforementioned objects, the present invention provides another method of advertising, wherein the advertising call signal tone is stored in the switching system on the receiving person's side. To be more specific, follow the steps that will be presented below: The sender-side switching system receives a marked information in the dial transmitted from the sender's telephone device, recognizes both the telephone numbers of the sender and the recipient , and check if the sender is a registered member by comparing the sender's phone number with the member's information registered in the database. Then, the sender-side switching system sends the telephone number of the receiving person and the result of the search in the database to the switching system on the receiving person's side. The switching system on the receiving person's side checks the current state of the recipient's telephone system. If the telephone of the receiving person is busy at that moment, it sends a busy tone to the switching system on the sender's side; otherwise it sends a call signal to the receiving person's telephone. And, if the sender is not a registered member, a resonant tone is sent to the sender-side switching system; otherwise, that is, if the sender is a registered member, an advertising call signal tone is transmitted from the advertising memory to the sender side switching system. The sender-side switching system sends the received call signal tone as it is to the sender's telephone apparatus. The transmission of the advertising call signal tone is stopped when a response signal is sent from the switching system on the receiving party's side or when the sender terminates the call. Figures 4a and 4b are functional diagrams depicting the aforementioned steps. When the sender's transmit signal is perceived (when the telephone transmitter is lifted) by the sender-side switching system, a dialing or calling tone is sent to the sender's telephone apparatus which implies that it can normally receive the signal from the sender. quadrant. Then, the sender presses the buttons of the dial to send the telephone number of the receiving person. The sender-side switching system checks whether the sender is a registered member or not, by comparing the sender's phone number with the member's information stored in the database linked to the controller. The sender-side switching system continues to select a trunk line in order to link to a switching system that deals with the received telephone numbers (the switching system on the receiving person's side). If the sender-side switching system stops selecting a trunk line, it sends the sender a signal that the call can not connect. When the sender-side switching system successfully selects a trunk line, it sends the telephone number of the receiving person and the result of the search of the database to the switching system on the receiving person's side. The switching system on the receiving person's side checks the current state of the recipient's telephone system. If the telephone apparatus of the receiving person is busy, the switching system on the receiving person's side sends a busy tone to the switching system on the sender's side; otherwise, a call signal is sent to the receiving party's telephone by sending a resonant tone to the sender-side switching system in case the sender is not a registered member. If the sender is determined to be a member, the switching system on the receiving person's side sends an advertising call signal tone to the sender-side switching system. The sender-side switching system transmits the received advertising call signal tone to the sender without alteration. Subsequently, if a response signal is sent from the recipient's telephone apparatus (when the receiving person picks up the telephone receiver) or if the sender terminates the call (when the sender places the telephone transmitter), the sending of the tone of advertising call sign stops. In other words, when the receiving person hears the telephone call and picks up the receiver of the telephone (answering signal), the switching system on the receiving person's side receives the response signal and sends it to the switching system on the sender's side . Then, the sender-side switching system stops sending the advertising call signal tone to build a talking route, thereby allowing the sender to connect with the receiving person. In accordance with the present invention, as described above, the sender hears an advertising call signal tone while the receiving person's telephone is ringing.; In this regard, the sender may feel uncomfortable if they can not be sure that the recipient's phone is ringing. Accordingly, when the case requires, the present invention can employ a method that can satisfy this problem by sending the conventional resonant tone as a background sound while the tone of the advertising call signal is sounding. The advertising call sign tone used in the present invention, which is provided in the form of a message or an advertising campaign, may be stored in several memories. First, the ROM can be used. The ROM is a conventional switching system having only a few classes of predetermined call signal tone and this ROM can be replaced by another ROM having a variety of call signal tones. Particularly, for this advertising that can always be published without restriction of the term, that is, without a predetermined period, for example, three months or seven months to change the content of the advertising depending on the stations, the ROM is preferably used. However, in view of the characteristic features of the present invention, the advertising content has to be changed when necessary, and in that case, the ROM must remain exchanged depending on the advertising content if conventional ROM is used. As a result, there is a tendency to cause inconvenience and economic problems. Thanks to the latest technology, however, it is possible to erase and rewrite the contents in the ROM in the same way in RAM so that the ROM may possibly be used in the present invention. Second, there is a RAM. The RAM can be said to be much more advantageous for the present invention because, as mentioned above, the content of the tone of the call signal must be kept changed in the present invention. Third, a magnetic tape in which the advertising message or a campaign is recorded can of course be used. In case of using an analog magnetic tape, an analog / digital transducer must be interposed. However, the magnetic tape is not of practical use since it requires a longer period of time than the other media in order to analyze the content of the tape. Fourth, there is a method to connect a hard drive. A hard disk requires a longer period of time than the ROM or RAM to read the content stored in it but it can be an advantageous means since it has a much greater capacity than ROM or RAM. In order to apply the present invention, the database and the advertising memory in the switching system need to be managed. The member information registered in the database in the switching system, e.g., the telephone number, name, age, sex or interest of the member can be managed by directly operating the computer mounted in the switching system. This method, however, is difficult to employ in view of cost and time since it has a weak point that each of the switching systems of telephone offices throughout the country must be managed in an individual manner. Therefore, it is desirable to build a server of each switching system and manage the database of member information in the switching system in a wired or wireless manner. Regarding the problem of changing the advertising content of the ROM, RAM, a hard drive or a magnetic tape, as the content of advertising can be diversified according to the time, area, or profile of the member, etc., and a Database in which a variety of advertising content is stored is built and controlled by a server. Then, when necessary, the advertising content can be downloaded directly or through the telephone line, connecting the server with the memory mounted in each switching system. In addition, the present invention can be applied to a cellular telephone or a PCS telephone. To elaborate, the technologies used in a cordless telephone contains the technology for a wired telephone, plus the installation of a base station, the wireless connection to the subscriber's terminal (sender or recipient) from the base station and the technology of make this connection in such a uniform way as can be; therefore, it is possible to apply the same to an advertising method as above, that is, the advertising method using a call signal tone for a wired telephone, to a wireless telephone. In addition, the effectiveness of advertising convergence can be further increased because a specific cell phone belongs to a specific person. In other words, a wireline telephone is used by different people with different interests since its user may often not be the correct target for a specific advertisement. However, as it relates to cell phone users, it is possible to select, with an exact database, a correct person for a specific advertisement thus achieving a higher advertising efficiency. The effectiveness of advertising using a ringing tone can be maximized for a cordless telephone in view of the fact that the cordless telephone usually consumes more time than a wired telephone to connect the sender with the receiving person.

Claims (4)

1. An advertising method using a ringing tone, comprising the steps of: the sender side switching system recognizes the sender's telephone number and the receiving person's telephone number after receiving a dialing signal or of the quadrant generated from the telephone set from the sender; the telephone number of the receiving person is transmitted to the switching system on the receiving person's side; the sender-side switching system recognizes a ringing tone sent by the switching system on the receiving person's side after receipt of the receiving person's telephone number; if the ringing tone is a busy tone, the busy tone is sent to the sender's handset, and if the ringing tone is a resonant tone it implies that a ringing signal is being sent to the person's handset. recipient, the information of the registered member stored in the database is inquired to check whether the sender's phone number matches the registered member in the database, if the sender is determined to be not a registered member, the resonant tone , as it is, is sent to the sender's telephone apparatus, and if the sender is determined to be a member, a predetermined advertising call signal tone is selected from the advertising memory and sent to the sender's telephone apparatus; and, if a response signal from the recipient's telephone is transmitted from the switching system on the receiving party's side or if the sender terminates the call, the sending of the advertising call signal tone is stopped. An advertising method using a ring signal tone according to claim 1, wherein the memory in which the advertising call signal tone is stored is one that is selected from the ROM, RAM, an hard disk, or a magnetic tape that is connected with an analog / digital transducer. 3. An advertising method using a ringing tone, comprising the steps of: the sender-side switching system recognizes the sender's telephone number and the receiving person's telephone number after receiving a signal from call generated from the sender's telephone device; the sender-side switching system checks whether the sender is a registered member by comparing the sender's telephone number with information of the registered member stored in the database; the sender-side switching system sends the telephone number and the receiving person and the result of the search in the database to the switching system on the receiving person's side; the switching system on the receiving person's side checks the current state of the receiving person's telephone equipment; and if the receiving person's telephone is busy, the switching system on the receiving person's side sends a busy tone to the switching system on the sender's side; otherwise, the switching system on the receiving person's side sends a ringing signal to the recipient's telephone apparatus; if the sender is not a registered member, the switching system on the receiving person's side sends a resonant tone to the switching system on the sender's side, and if the sender is a registered member, the switching system on the person's side The receiver selects an advertising call signal tone from the advertising memory and sends the same to the sender-side switching system; the sender-side switching system sends the received ringing tone to the sender's telephone apparatus; and, if a response signal is transmitted from the recipient's telephone from the switching system on the receiving party's side, or if the sender terminates the call, the sending of the advertising call signal tone is stopped. An advertising method using a call signal tone according to claim 3, wherein the memory in which the advertising call signal tone is stored is one that is selected from the ROM, RAM, a disk hard, or a magnetic tape that is connected to an analog / digital transducer.