WO2008072259A2

WO2008072259A2 - System and method to provide advertisement as ring back tones

Info

Publication number: WO2008072259A2
Application number: PCT/IN2007/000583
Authority: WO
Inventors: Babu Harish; Abdul Kareem Mohsin
Original assignee: Onmobile Global Limited
Priority date: 2006-12-14
Filing date: 2007-12-12
Publication date: 2008-06-19
Also published as: WO2008072259A3

Abstract

A method and a system for providing commercial information messages as a ring-back tone (RBT) to caller based on caller attributes and caller id. The caller attributes associated with the caller id is further used to generate caller profile id. The caller profile id and the caller id are then used to extract Cl id. The Cl id refers to at least one Cl message to be played to the caller as ring-back tone. The system then plays the Cl message corresponding to the Cl id as ring-back tone to the caller.

Description

"SYSTEM AND METHOD TO PROVIDE ADVERTISEMENT AS RING

BACK TONES"

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of telecommunication systems. More specifically, the invention relates to providing commercial information as a ring-back tone in a telecommunication system.

DEFINITIONS

Caller: The mobile phone user who initiates a call is called a 'caller' Callee: The mobile phone user to whom the call is made is called a 'callee'

Ring-back Tone (RBT): A tone which is played to the caller while he is waiting for the callee to respond to the call is called an RBT. The RBT is played until the callee responds to the call.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a telecommunication system, a caller hears a call progress tone when the caller makes a call to the callee using her communication terminal. The call progress tone is heard by the caller till the callee responds to the call and initiates a conversation with the caller. The call progress tone may be, for example, but not limited to, a ring-back tone (RBT), a call busy tone and a call-waiting tone. RBT is usually a monotonous sound heard by a caller while waiting for a callee to respond to a call. Examples of the communication terminal include, but are not limited to, a mobile phone and a landline phone. The communication terminal, for the purposes of explanation, is herein referred to as a mobile phone.

The RBT, conventionally a monotonous sound, can be replaced by other tones, for example, songs, Advertisement, music, news, and sports commentary. An advertisement is hereinafter referred to as a commercial information message (Cl message). Typically, telecommunication service providers provide an option to the telecommunication service subscribers to select an RBT of their choice by subscribing to an RBT service. An individual subscribed to an RBT service is hereinafter referred to as an RBT subscriber. The RBT service enables the RBT subscriber to choose a particular tone as the RBT. Depending on the services provided by the telecommunication service provider, the RBT heard by the caller can be selected by the callee, by the telecommunication service provider or by the caller herself.

The RBT played to the caller can be used for transmitting Cl messages. Cl messages may include promotional offers and the likes. For example, a Cl message of a particular product can be played as an RBT to the caller. Advertising using RBT's is gaining popularity with the increasing number of telecommunication system users. In some cases, advertising in the form of an RBT is used by the telecommunication service provider to promote Value Added Services (VAS) provided by the telecommunication service provider. The VAS can be, for example, RBT service, voice mailbox service, contests etc.

There exist systems which provide commercial information as RBT to the callers calling the RBT subscribers. Further, there exist systems which provide commercial information Cl as an RBT to a caller irrespective of the subscription status of the caller or the callee. Moreover, there also exist systems which provide random Cl messages as RBT to the caller. However, such commercial information does not take the caller's requirements and preferences into consideration. Hence, the played RBT may be irrelevant to the callers.

One such method of providing RBTs to a caller, irrespective of caller's and callee's subscription status, has been disclosed in US Patent 7072644, titled "Method for providing a caller-based ring-back tone sound in case of a non- subscribed callee", assigned to SK Telecom Co. Ltd. The patent discloses a method for providing a caller with an arbitrary tone, which may be commercial information, as RBT. The RBT can be chosen by the caller even if the callee is not an RBT subscriber. Hence, the commercial information played to the caller is more relevant to the caller than random commercial information. However, the arbitrary tone is not based on caller's attributes, like age of caller, geographical location of the caller etc. Commercial information based on caller's attributes makes the RBT interesting to the caller. In light of the above, there exists a need for providing commercial information to the caller based on the caller's attributes. This makes the RBT interesting to the caller and hence enables enhanced targeting of commercial information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and a system to provide commercial information as a ring-back tone (RBT) to the caller are disclosed.

The method includes providing commercial information as RBT to the caller based on caller attributes. The commercial information (Cl) may include promotional offers and the likes. The caller attributes may include age of the caller, geographical location of the caller, time of call etc.

According to an embodiment, a method for providing at least one Cl message as a ring-back tone (RBT) to a caller is described. A call is initiated by the caller. The caller is associated with a caller id and caller attributes values. A caller profile id is associated with the caller id based on the caller attribute values. Further, at least one Cl id corresponding to the at least one Cl message is assigned to the caller based on the caller profile id. The at least one Cl message is played as the RBT to the caller.

According to an embodiment, a system for providing at least one Cl message as a ring-back tone (RBT) to a caller is described. The at least one Cl message corresponds to one or more Cl campaigns stored in a master database. The caller is associated with a caller id and caller attribute values. An RBT Cl server associates a caller profile id with the caller id based on the caller attribute values. Further, a provisioner assigns at least one Cl id to the at least one Cl message. The at least one Cl id is assigned based on the caller profile id. The selection of the at least one Cl id for playback of the at least one Cl messages is based on priority of the one or more Cl campaigns to be played. Further, a ring-back tone player plays the at least one Cl message to the caller. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating a telecommunication environment in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing RBT Cl to a caller in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a Cl system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustrating an application server in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing RBT Cl services to a caller in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to a person ordinarily skilled in the art, that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. Various aspects and features of example embodiments of the invention are described in detail hereinafter.

A method and a system for providing commercial information (Cl) based on caller profile in a telecommunication system are disclosed. The method includes providing Cl as RBT to the caller based on caller attributes. Each caller is associated with a unique caller id. The caller id may for an embodiment refer to a unique identifier for the caller, for example, mobile phone number of caller. The Cl may include promotional offers and the likes. The caller attributes may include age of caller, geographical location of caller, current geographical location of caller, time of call, gender of caller, revenue generated from caller, caller's handset make, duration for which caller has been a subscriber with the particular telecommunication service provider, the Value Added Services (VAS) caller has subscribed to, mode of payment such as cash or credit/debit card, type of connection such as prepaid or postpaid, nature' of the connection such as personal or corporate, type of communication terminal used by the caller, frequency of incoming calls and time of receiving the incoming calls by the caller and long distance calls received and made by the caller. The values corresponding to these caller attributes are hereinafter referred to as caller attribute values. Caller attributes are used to determine more information about caller. For example, information regarding revenue generated from caller may be used to establish if caller is a heavy spender or has limited spending capacity. Similarly, caller information regarding caller's handset may be used to find handset related interests of the caller. The caller's handset make can be identified by an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number associated with each handset. The IMEI number gets stored in the customer database during Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) access by caller. Information determined from caller attributes also forms a part of caller attributes. Also, the caller attributes, for an embodiment, may include callee information such callee id and callee attributes.

FIG. 1 is a schematic depicting a telecommunication environment. According to an embodiment of the invention, a telecommunication service provider enables caller 102 to connect to a telecommunication infrastructure 104 for making a call to a callee 106. Caller 102 and callee 106 may use a telecommunication terminal like a landline telephone, mobile telephone, etc. to connect to telecommunication infrastructure 104. The telecommunication terminal, for purposes of explanation, is hereinafter referred to as a mobile phone. Telecommunication infrastructure 104 includes Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 108, a central database 110 and a Commercial Information (Cl) system 112. MSC 108 enables a call connection between caller 102 and callee 106. Central database 1 10 is used to store the subscription information related to the subscribers of the telecommunication service. Cl system 112 is used to provide Cl such as promotional offers and the likes to the subscribers. An example of central database 1 10 is a Home Location Register (HLR). The subscription information for each subscriber includes a unique identifier for the subscriber, mobile phone number of the subscriber, current location of the subscriber, various services the subscriber is registered to, and the likes.

According to an embodiment of the invention, Cl system 1 12 provides commercial information as an RBT to caller 102. Caller 102 initiates a call with callee 106 by dialing a phone number of the callee 106 by using a mobile phone. MSC 108 receives the call request and establishes a connection with callee 106. The call is also forwarded to Cl system 112 by using a switch at MSC 108. FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the method for providing Cl messages as RBT to caller 102 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Cl messages may include promotional offers and the likes. According to an embodiment, the Cl messages may be classified into one or more categories, hereinafter known as Cl campaigns. Each of the Cl messages in the Cl campaigns is associated with at least one Cl id. At step 202, caller 102 initiates a call with callee 106. The call is routed through MSC 108. MSC 108 forwards the call to callee 106 on receiving the call. The call is forwarded to Cl system 112 by using a switch at MSC 108 irrespective of caller's or callee's RBT subscription status. A caller id, unique for caller 102, is also forwarded to Cl system 112 by MSC 108. The caller id may for an embodiment refer to a unique identifier for the caller 102, for example, phone number of caller 102. A unique callee id, for example, phone number of callee 106 may also be forwarded to Cl system 112 by MSC 108.

At step 204, Cl system 112 obtains a caller profile id for caller 102 corresponding to caller 102's caller id. According to an embodiment, Cl system 1 12 generates the caller profile id for caller 102 using caller attributes such as time of call, geographical location of the caller 102, etc. This can be explained in conjunction with the following example. Suppose Cl system 112 identifies caller 102 to be making a call at 12 noon from city X. Thereafter, caller 102 may get some Cl regarding a restaurant in the city X as an RBT, which will be of more relevance to the caller than playing random Cl as RBT.

According to another embodiment of the invention, Cl system 112 obtains the caller profile id corresponding to the caller id of caller 102 from customer database 414 (as shown in FIG. 4). Different caller profiles are stored in customer database 414 based on the caller attributes. Caller profiles may be updated from time to time. Caller 102 attributes may also be updated real-time based on certain pre-defined conditions. The pre-defined conditions may, for an embodiment, include current geographical location of caller 102. For example, caller 102 attributes are updated to city Y when caller 102 permanently stationed at city X is currently traveling in city Y. In such cases, Cl regarding a sports club or a health fitness club in city Y₁ job vacancy for companies in city Y and so on may be played as RBT to caller 102 thereby making the RBT more relevant to caller 102.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a Cl preference may be set by caller 102 regarding the Cl to be played to caller 102. The Cl preference can also be used as a caller attribute for generating the caller profile id for caller 102. For example, caller 102 can set her Cl preferences as one or more of retail shop, movie tickets, electronics, hotels, restaurant, clubs, pubs, apparels and job vacancy.

According to another embodiment, Cl system 1 12 generates the caller profile id for caller 102 using a combination of caller attributes. This can be explained in conjunction with the following example. Suppose caller 102 from region ABC of city X calls a pizza hut, wherein the pizza hut is in region XYZ of city X. Cl system 1 12 then identifies caller 102 to be requiring pizza and thus generates a caller profile id based on such requirement of caller 102. Thereafter, Cl system may play caller 102 some Cl regarding pizza places in region ABC of city X.

Further, the Cl played to caller 102 can be refined and made more focused on caller 102 by using more caller attributes for generating the caller profile id. Information stored in customer database 414 maintaining caller's information, can be obtained from a plurality of interfaces including, but not limited to, Customer Relation Management (CRM), WAP logs and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) authentication system.

According to another embodiment of the invention, caller 102 can herself enter information in conjunction with various caller attributes to create his own profile. Caller 102 can create his profile using a plurality of interfaces including, but not limited to, WAP, Internet, Short Message Service (SMS), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). Cl system 112 further generates a caller profile id for caller 102 analogous to the profile created by caller 102.

At step 206, Cl system 112 associates the Cl id with the Cl message corresponding to the caller profile id. At step 208, Cl message corresponding to the extracted Cl id is played to caller 102. Cl system 112 is discussed in detail in conjunction with FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating Cl system 112 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. According to an embodiment of the invention, Cl system 112 provides at least one Cl message as RBT to caller 102. Cl system 112 includes signaling cards 302 and media cards 304 for communication with MSC 108. Cl system 112 further includes an application server 306. Signaling cards 302 are used for processing signals from MSC 108. The signals provide specific information related to the call. For example, MSC 108 sends signals regarding initiation of call by caller 102, termination of call by caller 102, termination of call by callee 106 etc. The signals are transmitted using standard protocols such as SS7 protocol. An example of signaling cards 302 is NMS TX-4000 cards. Signaling cards 302 include a software component used for signal handling. The software component may be written in C/C++ or any other programming language.

Media cards 304 are used for processing media, for example playback, recording, Dual-tone Multi-frequency (DTMF) etc., to and from MSC 108. An example of media cards 304 is NMS AG-4040 card. Media cards 304 comprise a software component used for media processing and handling. The software component may be written in C/C++ or any other programming language. Media cards 304 and signaling cards 302 are connected to an application server 306 and serve as a link between MSC 108 and application server 306. Further, application server 306 comprises various applications based on computer programming languages like JAVA, C/C++, etc. Different applications are invoked based on input from signaling cards 302 and media cards 304. For example, when caller 102 initiates the call with callee 106, an application for playing RBT to caller 102 is invoked. Similarly, caller 102 may directly call Cl system 102 for listening to the at least one Cl message. A different application in application server 306 for playing the Cl message to caller 102 is invoked when caller 102 directly calls Cl system 102. Application server 306 is discussed in detail in conjunction with FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating application server 306 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Application server 306 includes various applications to provide different Cl messages to caller 102. The various applications are based on computer programming languages like JAVA, C/C++, etc. According to an embodiment of the invention, application server 306 includes an RBT player 402 and a Central Cl server 404.

Application server 306 sends and receives inputs from signaling cards 302 and media cards 304. Any transfer of media to and from the applications in application server 306 is through media cards 304. For example, pressing of DTMF key by caller 102 is recognized by media cards 304 and then conveyed to Application server 306. Similarly, playback of an RBT to caller 102 by RBT player 402 is routed through media cards 304. Signaling card 302 sends signaling information to application server 306 that a connection is established between caller 102 and callee 106. Further, signaling card 302 is also used for transmitting and receiving signals between various components of central Cl server 404.

Central Cl server 404 is responsible for handling Cl to be played as an RBT to caller 102 based on specific criteria in order to increase relevance of the Cl to caller 102. Central Cl server 404 includes a provisioner 406, a master database 408, an RBT Cl campaign controller 410, an RBT Cl server 412 and a customer database 414. Provisioner 406 is a web-based front-end interface to upload and manage Cl messages. According to an embodiment, provisioner 406 classifies the Cl messages into one or more Cl campaigns. Provisioner 406 also maintains a subscription database containing subscription information of customers that are subscribed to the RBT Cl service. An RBT Cl service enables caller 102 to hear Cl messages as RBT. According to an embodiment of the invention, caller 102 need not be an RBT Cl service subscriber for hearing Cl messages as RBT. Subscription information of customers is hereinafter referred to as RBT subscription information. The RBT subscription information may include phone number of caller 102, time of pressing of DTMF key, etc.

Master database 408 stores the one or more Cl campaigns, information regarding played Cl campaigns and Cl campaign history. Each Cl campaign includes at least one Cl message. Cl campaign history includes, but is not limited to, Cl campaigns which have been played, ongoing Cl campaigns as well as Cl campaigns which are queued for service. Master database 408 regularly updates RBT player 402 with the plurality of Cl campaigns. For example, the one or more Cl campaigns can be updated after a regular time interval of 24 hours.

RBT Cl campaign controller 410 manages at least one Cl campaign from the plurality of Cl campaigns that need to be played based on the Cl campaign history. RBT Cl campaign controller 410 selects at least one Cl campaign to be played as RBT for a predefined amount of time, for example next five minutes. Cl messages contained in the selected Cl campaigns are played to different callers whose call is forwarded to Cl system 112. Cl messages to be played to caller 102 are based on caller profile ids.

RBT Cl server 412 associates the caller profile id with the caller id based on information on certain caller attributes. According to an embodiment of the invention, information on certain caller attributes for callers is stored in customer database 414, maintained by the telecommunication service provider. Information stored in customer database 414 can be obtained from a plurality of interfaces including, but not limited to, CRM, WAP logs and GPRS authentication system.

RBT Cl campaign controller 410 updates RBT Cl server 412 with a plurality of Cl ids at regular intervals. According to an embodiment, the RBT Cl campaign controller 410 updates the RBT Cl server 412 when new Cl messages are uploaded in provisioner 406. According to another embodiment, the Cl ids can be updated after a regular time interval of one hour. Furthe, the selection of the Cl id for playback of the one or more Cl messages as the RBT of caller 102 may be based on priority of the one or more Cl campaigns to be played. This can be explained in conjunction with the following example. Suppose caller profile id of caller 102 can be associated with more than one Cl id contained in RBT Cl server 412. The Cl id that is played least number of times as RBT in previous calls becomes the corresponding Cl id for caller 102.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing RBT Cl services to caller 102 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. At step 502, caller 102 initiates a call with callee 106. After the connection is established between caller 102 and callee 106, MSC 108 forwards the call to Cl system 112 to enable caller 102 to listen to Cl as RBT, irrespective of caller's or callee's subscription to RBT Cl service.

At step 504, RBT Cl server 412 extracts caller 102 profile id from customer database 412 based on caller 102 attribute values. According to an embodiment, the profile of caller 102 can be obtained from a customer database 414.

At step 506, RBT Cl server 412 associates caller profile id of caller 102 to the corresponding Cl id from the plurality of Cl ids. According to an embodiment, RBT Cl server 412 associates the caller profile id with at least one Cl message. The Cl message is selected by RBT Cl server 412 from the different Cl campaigns provided by RBT Cl campaign controller 410. According to an embodiment of the invention, RBT Cl server 412 selects the at least one Cl message based on Cl campaign history. The Cl campaign history may include Cl ids of the Cl messages that are already played to the caller 102. The Cl campaign history may be updated at regular intervals or real-time. According to an embodiment, the caller profile id of caller 102 is associated with a default Cl id when the Cl id corresponding to a particular caller profile id does not exist. The Cl id is transferred by RBT Cl server 412 to RBT player 402. At step 508, RBT player 402 selects and plays a Cl message as RBT to caller 102 based on the Cl id.

At step 510, RBT Cl server 412 provides RBT Cl campaign controller 410 with information regarding the Cl message played to caller 102. RBT Cl server 412 updates RBT Cl campaign controller 410 with the Cl campaign information. RBT Cl campaign controller 410 then updates master database 408 with the Cl campaign information. Updating the Cl campaign information helps in keeping track of the Cl campaigns that are played to caller 102. The update of Cl campaign information can be real time or at regular intervals depending on the requirement.

It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and discussed, it is not limited thereto. However, various alterations may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A system for providing at least one commercial information (Cl) message as a ring-back tone (RBT) to a caller, the at least one Cl message corresponding to one or more Cl campaigns, the caller being associated with a caller id and caller attribute values, the system comprising:

a. an RBT Cl server for associating a caller profile id with the caller id based on the caller attribute values;

b. a provisioner for assigning at least one Cl id based on the caller profile id, wherein the at least one Cl id corresponds to the at least one Cl message; and

c. a ring-back tone player for playing the at least one Cl message to the caller.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the provisioner classifies the at least one Cl message into one or more Cl campaigns.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising an RBT Cl campaign controller for managing one or more Cl campaigns to be played to the caller.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the caller attribute values correspond to one or more of caller geographical location, caller age, caller gender, caller phone bill and callee information.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising a master database for storing at least one of the one or more Cl campaigns and information regarding Cl campaigns played to the caller.

6. A method for providing at least one commercial information (Cl) message as a ring-back tone (RBT) to a caller, the caller being associated with a caller id and caller attribute values, the method comprising the steps of: a. initiating a call by the caller; b. associating a caller profile id with the caller id based on the caller attribute values;

c. assigning at least one Cl id based on the caller profile id, wherein the at least one Cl id corresponds to the at least one Cl message; and

d. playing the at least one Cl message corresponding to the at least one Cl id as the ring-back tone to the caller.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising classifying the at least one Cl message into one or more Cl campaigns.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein assigning at least one Cl id comprises assigning the Cl id based on Cl campaign history.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising receiving a response to the at least one Cl message from the caller.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the caller attribute values correspond to one or more of caller geographical location, caller age, caller gender, caller phone bill and callee information.