JP2002515694A - Call handling method for delivering advertising messages - Google Patents

Abstract

SUMMARY An interactive voice response and call process application and system for transmitting advertising messages allows a user to play a desired number of advertising messages before a connection is established (264). (242, 244, 246) can be selected. The user may also request additional advertising messages at any time during the connection to extend the free or subsidized connection time provided by the system (268). The system monitors the connection and alerts the user before the end of the free or subsidized talk time (278, 280). Thereafter, the user can request additional advertising messages to extend the time, or the termination (284) of the connection is in order.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Technical Field The present invention belongs to the field of telephone, more particularly, a system and method for providing advertising messages to the telephone subscriber who is the end user. This application corresponds to, and claims priority to, US application Ser. No. 09 / 192,306, filed Nov. 16, 1998, and US Ser. No. 60 / 085,525, filed May 14, 1999. Claims. The entire subject matter of the above-mentioned application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Description of the Prior Art Conventionally, there has been a telephone system that allows a subscriber to make a free or discounted call in exchange for the subscriber to hear a promotional message sponsored by the advertiser. Proposed. Generally, prior art systems of this type
There are two categories: (a) message front-loading (mess
age-front-loading and (b) mid-call message cycling.

[0003] Message frontloading systems allow callers to hear a certain amount of advertising before a toll call is made in exchange for a certain amount of free or subsidized talk time. Things. In such a system, a caller dials into the telephone system and listens to a predetermined amount of advertising or other sponsored or promotional messages. At the end of the message time, the caller is connected to the call destination for a predetermined time during which the caller may talk to the called party. At the end of the predetermined time period, the connection is terminated or continued for a fee (ie, it is no longer free or subsidized).

[0004] Such a message front-loading system suffers from several disadvantages. No flexibility is provided to the caller for free or subsidized call time very close to the desired call length. The caller may hear a short advertisement in exchange for a short period of time that is free or subsidized, or conversely, may receive an extended amount of advertising in exchange for an extended period of time that is free or subsidized. You do not have the option to listen.

[0005] If the callers only desire a simple call, they need to wait through a long advertisement or a constant series of advertisements before the call is connected. The message is played before the call is connected, so if the called party does not answer or is on the call, the caller will have a substantial amount of time spent advertising May be lost. Conversely, if the caller wants to make a call that takes longer than the time allowed in exchange for listening to the message, the system will allow the caller to listen to additional advertisements, if desired, It does not provide the flexibility to allow for a longer quota time. Calls are automatically disconnected,
Or, at the end of the time provided by the system based on promotional messages played prior to the call, return to the per-minute or other percentage basis.

[0006] Such a system also allows the caller, if necessary, during the call, or
Provides flexibility to extend the free or subsidized quota time if you want to extend your conversation without disconnecting or returning to per-minute or other rate-based services It does not do.

On the other hand, mid-call message cycling systems allow callers to hear advertising messages at regular intervals throughout the duration of the call, with each message heard being free or subsidized. It brings talk time. In such a system, the caller accesses the service, listens to a single simple message, and then allocates a predetermined, typically short (eg, 2 minutes), free or subsidized call. For a while. At the expiration of the allotted time, another message is inserted into the conversation, allowing the caller to receive additional allotted time for free or subsidized calls. Such processing is repeated.

[0008] However, such mid-call cycling systems also suffer from significant limitations. First, the caller cannot receive an extended quota for successive free or subsidized calls before the call is made. This is because they cannot control the number of messages that are heard before the call is made, and thus cannot control the duration of free or subsidized calls that are awarded. This introduces significant restrictions on the types of calls made through the service. For example, callers cannot communicate for an extended period of time without revealing the fact that they are using a sponsored communication service. This means that they do not want to indicate that they are using a sponsored calling service, or that they do not want to suffer periodic disconnections, or to call business or professional colleagues or other parties. This can be a significant limitation for callers who want to use the service.

Next, the caller receives an extended quota for free or subsidized calls by listening to multiple messages, either at the beginning of the call or during the call. Callers must endure relatively frequent interruptions at relatively short intervals throughout the call. This is especially true because the caller has no control over the time of insertion of the message, and as a result, the message may be played during bad or inconvenient times during the call. Inconvenient.

[0010] Also, the amount of time initially given to a free or subsidized call by allowing the caller to listen to as many messages at the beginning of the call as they may choose to listen to Since they do not have the option to control the service, such services send faxes,
It is not useful for checking voice mail or accessing the Internet.

[0011] In view of the above-mentioned prior art issues, it is possible for a user to select the number of advertising messages to be played to receive the desired amount of free or subsidized calls. It is desirable to provide a method and system. as a result,
The user can receive an allotted time very close to the desired call length.

The user may also request that an additional advertising message be played at the user's convenience during the connection to receive additional free or subsidized talk time. It would be desirable to provide systems and methods that enable As a result, at the request of the user, the user can listen to any number of messages that are played at any time during the call and receive additional free or subsidized time so that they can The required length of connection time can be extended.

It would further be desirable to provide systems and methods that provide an audible alert to notify a user that a free or subsidized connection time has nearly expired. As a result, the user may terminate the connection in an orderly fashion or, if desired, request additional advertising messages to receive additional free or subsidized connection times. it can. Other and further objects and advantages are described below.

[0014] Disclosure of the Invention The present invention for transmitting advertising messages, interactive (intera
ctive: has an interactive voice response and call processing application and system. In one aspect of the invention, a telephone network service provider system comprises:
Play a selected number of advertising messages to the user before connecting the user to the telephone number. Users receive time for free or subsidized calls, depending on the number and type of messages played. As a result, the user can receive an allotted time that is very close to the desired call length.

In another aspect of the invention, during a connection, a user requests an additional advertising message during a connection so that the telephone network service provider system receives an additional free or subsidized connection time. It is possible to do. As a result, users may receive additional free or subsidized time, thereby extending the length of connection they require.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a telephone network service provider system provides a system for providing an audible alert to a user indicating that a free or subsidized connection time has nearly expired. . As a result, the user may terminate the connection in an orderly fashion, or, if desired, request additional advertising messages to receive additional free or subsidized connection times. it can.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF BEST MODES AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS FIG. 1 illustrates a telephone connection process 100 for transmitting advertising messages to telephone users in exchange for free or subsidized connection times. This shows a high-level state. The process illustrates various aspects of the present invention. During the initial time 105 of the illustrated process 100, the system may include one or more front-loading before the user's call is connected.
ed) Play the advertising message to the user. During this initial time 105,
The user may be allocated for a free or subsidized connection, depending on the number and / or type of advertising messages played. The user sets the initial time 1
It is possible to select the number of messages played during 05. This allows the user to receive the desired amount of free or subsidized connection time before initiating the call.

During a second time 110, the user's call is connected to the dialed person for a continuous connection time. The length of time of the connection is determined by the amount of time given during the initial time 105. An audible alarm is played to the user for a short period before the end of the given free or subsidized talk time.

In the illustrated process of FIG. 1, the user requests that the connection be continued for longer than the allotted time initially given. As a result, during the third time 115, the system plays a mid-call advertising message to the user. As described above, the user can select the number of messages to be played during the third time 115. This allows the user to receive the desired amount of free or subsidized connection time to continue the call.

During a fourth time 120, the user's connection with the dialed person continues for a time determined by the amount of time given during the third time 115.

In the illustrated process of FIG. 1, the user requests to hear an additional advertising message before the end of a given quota time. As a result, the fourth time 1
During 25, the system plays a mid-call advertising message to the user. As described above, the user can select the number of messages to be played during the fourth time 125.

During a sixth time 130, the user's connection with the dialed person is changed to the first, third
And for a time equal to the remaining amount of time given during the fourth time. This process continues without the user selecting to have additional advertising messages to be played until the user terminates the connection or until the user's allotted time has expired. In that case, the user will pay for the minutes used over the given allotted time. Instead, the connection ends when the given quota time expires.

FIGS. 2A-2D show a flowchart of a method for transmitting an advertising message to a telephone user in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention, in accordance with a preferred embodiment.

In a first step 202, a caller dials a service access number or address to connect to a telephone network service provider system. The service access number is a free number (eg, 800,877 or 88).
8 area code). As a result, a connection is established between the telephone user and the system.

In step 204, the system executes a greeting script. The greeting script may be an audio message, or an audio-visual or graphic expression, depending on the medium. The script shown in FIG. 2A is exemplary, and other scripts may be used, or the script may be removed altogether, as appropriate.

In a preferred embodiment, a telephone user accesses the system by a personal identification number (PIN). The PIN is used to identify the identity of an individual user to control access to the system. In practice, the PIN may be a numeric or alphanumeric code. The code may be entered via a voice command from a user associated with a keypad, keyboard, magnetic strip, voice recognition system, or by other means suitable for identification and verification. In a preferred embodiment, during a greeting, a telephone user enters a P
You will be advised to enter IN.

For a PIN access to the service, in step 206, the telephone user enters a PIN. The user may check the PIN by continuing to check the keypad, the “Enter” key on the keyboard, the mouse click, etc., according to the medium, as appropriate.

In step 208, the system checks whether the PIN is valid. If the PIN is determined to be invalid, at step 210, the system increments the PIN retry counter. In step 212, the system comprises:
The number of PIN retries in the PIN retry counter for the PIN input attempt limit "N" is checked.

If the number of PIN retries is less than the PIN input attempt limit “N”, then at step 214 the system executes a script that advises the user to re-enter the PIN. The script shown in FIG. 2A is exemplary, and other scripts may be used. Thereafter, the process returns to step 206 where the user enters a PIN and the process is repeated.

On the other hand, if the number of PIN retries is equal to the PIN input attempt limit “N”, then, at step 216, the system will
Execute a script that informs the user that IN has been entered. The script may also inform the user that the user should contact customer service and / or that the user is not connected. The script shown in FIG. 2A is exemplary, and other scripts may be used. In step 218, the system disconnects the user and ends the session. The process,
The process ends at step 220.

In a preferred embodiment, the system is designed to limit the simultaneous use of the same PIN by multiple users. This allows the system to uniquely identify each user. This increases the likelihood that sponsored advertising messages will reach future listeners.

As a result, if the PIN entered in step 206 is determined to be valid in step 208, then the system proceeds to step 222
Check whether the PIN is currently being used by another user.

If it is determined in step 222 that the entered PIN is already being used by another user, then, in step 224, the system causes the PIN entered by the user to be currently in use. Run a script that tells the user that something is there. The script may also inform the user that the user should contact customer service and / or that they are not connected. The script shown in FIG. 2A is exemplary, and other scripts may be used.

For example, it should be understood that other features may be useful to users of a telephone system incorporating the present invention. One or more of those features is a PI
After inputting the N number, it may be accessed by the user. For example, the above system may provide a "voice e-mail access" in which a user may receive a voice e-mail message on a free or subsidized basis in exchange for listening to an advertising message. Characteristic ". In that case, the user's email message may be applied to a voice synthesizer and relayed to the user using a system as disclosed herein.

Referring again to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2A, following step 224, at step 226, the system flags the PIN. This indicates that the system can be compromised and processed, and possibly misused PI
N can be identified. After flagging the PIN, in step 218,
The system disconnects the user and ends the session. The process ends at step 220.

If it is determined in step 222 that the entered PIN is not currently being used by another user, then in step 228 the system proceeds to the destination Run a script that advises the user to enter a number. The script shown in FIG. 2A is exemplary, and other scripts may be used.

At step 230, the telephone user enters the telephone number for which they want to be connected. The user may, as appropriate, select ♯,
The PIN may be confirmed by continuing to confirm the “Enter” key on the keyboard, clicking the mouse, and the like.

At step 232, the system checks whether the target telephone number is valid. In this way, the system can prevent access to unauthorized destinations. For example, the system may prohibit telephone calls to international numbers or pay-per-call (eg, 900 area codes) numbers.

If the target telephone number is determined to be invalid, then, at step 234, the system increments the target telephone number retry counter. Step 23
At 6, the system checks the number of target telephone number retries in the target telephone number retry counter for the target telephone number input attempt limit "M".

If the target telephone number retry count is equal to the target telephone number input attempt limit “
If not, then at step 238 the system executes a script that advises the user to re-enter the desired phone number. afterwards,
The process returns to step 230 where the user enters the desired telephone number and the process is repeated.

On the other hand, if the target telephone number retry count is equal to the target telephone number input attempt limit “M”, then, at step 240, the system inputs the invalid target telephone number to the user. Run a script to let the user know that you have done this. The script may also inform the user that the user should contact customer service and / or that they are not connected. At step 218, the system disconnects the user and ends the session. The process ends at step 220.

If the target telephone number entered in step 230 is determined to be valid in step 232, then in step 242 the system sends a sponsored advertising message to the telephone user. To play for. The advertising message may be in an audio, graphic, audio / video or multimedia format, depending on the medium.

At the end of the advertising message, at step 244 the system increases the number of messages in the message counter. Based on the number of messages in the message counter, the system can provide a free or subsidized quota time to telephone users to be connected to the target number. As a result, at step 244, the system also adds a time unit to the given allotted time for free or subsidized calls.

Next, at step 246, the system receives (i) another advertising message to add additional time to the given quota time, or
i) Execute a script that advises the user to select whether to initiate a connection with the desired telephone number. By selecting (i), the telephone user may receive additional free or subsidized time before the connection. Thus, the system provides flexibility with respect to the telephone user receiving an allotted time for a free or subsidized call very close to the desired call length.

The above advice is to prompt the telephone user to enter a first telephone code for another advertising message, or to enter a second telephone code to initiate a call to the desired telephone number. It is instructed to be input. For example, the first phone code may be the * key, and the second phone code may be the @ key. The script shown in FIG. 2C is exemplary, and other scripts may be used.

At step 248, the telephone user enters a telephone code. In step 250, the system checks to see if a telephone code has been entered. If the phone code is neither the first phone code nor the second phone code,
The phone code is invalid.

If the telephone code is determined to be invalid, at step 252, the system increments the telephone code retry counter. In step 254, the system checks the number of telephone code retries in the telephone code retry counter for the telephone code input attempt limit "P".

If the number of phone code retries is less than the phone code entry attempt limit “P”, then the process returns to step 246 where the user enters a phone code and the process is repeated.

On the other hand, if the number of telephone code retries is equal to the telephone code input attempt limit “P
, Then at step 256 the system executes a script that informs the user that he has not entered a valid selection. The script may also inform the user that the user is not connected.
The script shown in FIG. 2C is exemplary, and other scripts may be used. In step 258, the system disconnects the user and ends the session. At step 260, the process ends.

If the system determines in step 250 that the user has entered a first telephone code requesting yet another advertising message, the process proceeds to the Returning to step 242 of playing the advertising message, the process is repeated.

If the system determines at step 250 that the user has entered a second telephone code to initiate a call to the desired telephone number, then at step 262 the system provides Execute a script that informs the telephone user about the allotted time for the free or subsidized call made. The script may also inform the user that the call is connected. The script shown in FIG. 2C is exemplary, and other scripts may be used.

Subsequently, in step 264, the system connects the telephone user to the target telephone number and starts a communication timer that tracks the connection time. At step 266, the system monitors the connection time in the communication timer. The connection time is subtracted from the given quota time to find the given remaining quota time. As long as the given remaining quota time is greater than zero, the system will remain connected.

At step 268, the system determines whether the telephone user requests an additional advertising message to increase the given remaining quota for free or subsidized calls. Monitor. At any time during the connection, the user can increase the quota time by entering the nominated telephone code. In the preferred embodiment, the nominated telephone code is the first telephone code as described earlier with respect to step 248. For example, the nominated telephone code may be the * key.

If the system determines that the telephone user has entered the nominated telephone code, then at step 270 the system plays an additional sponsored advertising message for the telephone user. . Upon completion of the advertising message, at step 272, the system increases the number of messages in the message counter. The system also adds a time unit to a given allotted time for free or subsidized calls. At the same time, the system keeps the phone connection up and monitors the connection time in the communication timer.

If the system determines that the telephone user has not entered the designated telephone code, then, at step 274, the system monitors whether an end event has occurred. For example, a telephone user may have ended a call. If the above system determines that a termination event has occurred, then step 2
At 76, the system terminates the connection and the process ends.

If the system determines that an end event has not occurred, then, at step 278, the system proceeds to step 278, where the allotted time for the free or subsidized call is approaching end. It is determined whether or not. In a preferred embodiment, the system monitors a given remaining allocation time to determine when a given remaining allocation time is less than a predetermined time threshold X.

If the system determines that the given remaining allocation time exceeds a predetermined time threshold, the system continues to maintain the connection and continues to monitor the connection time at the communication timer. Return to 266. If the system determines that the allotted time is less than the predetermined time threshold, then, at step 288, the system plays an audible alarm to the telephone user. This informs the user that the given quota time for a free or subsidized call is almost over. In a preferred embodiment, the alarm sound is inaudible to a caller.

At step 282, the system determines whether the telephone user requests an additional advertising message to increase the allotted time for a free or subsidized call before the call ends. Monitor. This allows the user to
When you hear the alarm, enter the nominated phone code to get the opportunity to extend the call.

If the system determines that the telephone user has entered the nominated telephone code,
Thereafter, at step 284, the system plays an additional sponsored advertising message for the telephone user, as described above, and the process is repeated. If the system determines that the telephone user has not entered the designated telephone code, the system waits until the given remaining quota time is zero. At that point, at step 270, the system disconnects the telephone user and ends the call. At step 286, the process ends.

In another embodiment, the connection is not terminated if the given remaining quota time expires. In that case, the user will pay for the minutes used for the given allotted time or more.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top-level configuration of an interactive voice response and call processing system 300 for transmitting advertising messages via a telephone system in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention. Message bank 302 contains advertising messages to be transmitted to subscribed callers and / or callers. In a preferred embodiment, each user is assigned and identified by a unique personal identification number (PIN). The PIN is stored in the customer profile bank 304.

Reference numeral 306 indicates that the message included in the message bank 302 can be matched to the corresponding profile data included in the customer profile bank 304 by one or more customers. Figure 4 shows an association processor associated with a PIN. In this way, advertising messages are targeted to specific individual users.

In the preferred embodiment, the relationship between the customer and the message is such that one or more message queues 308, 310, 312 and 31
4 is stored. For example, multiple message queues may be used to provide several different levels of targeting for advertising messages. In the preferred embodiment, queue 308 is an individual queue and queue 310
Is a category queue, queue 312 is a geographic queue, and queue 314 is a general queue. For example, the system may include a separate queue 310 corresponding to each PIN for each telephone subscriber to the system.
May be provided.

In the preferred embodiment, each queue is identified by a unique queue identification number (QIN). A message queue may also have a QIN reference or pointer to another message queue. In this way, individual queues 3
08 may link to one or more category queues 310 and / or geographic queues 312.

Reference numeral 316 represents a caller 318 via the telephone switching network 320.
And / or message queue 3 for transmission to called party 322
Shows a call processor that reads the message specified at 08-314. It should be noted that the call processor 316 and the association processor 306 may be satisfied by physically separate processors or by a single processor having a multitasking function.

The call processor 316 may include a static memory 324, a dynamic memory 326, a message queue interface 328, and a telephone switching network interface 330. The call processor provides messages from the message interface queue to the user via the telephone switching network 320. In a preferred embodiment, call processor 316 may execute a call connection program in a manner as described with respect to flowchart 200 in FIG.

In a preferred embodiment, when a telephone subscriber enters an assigned PIN,
Call processor 316 immediately consults each corresponding queue 308 (reading out individual message relationships) for the next message to be played.
If a message or message pointer is included in each telephone subscriber's queue 308, the message is played for the telephone subscriber before or after the telephone subscriber is connected to the called party. . If no such message is present (all of the individually relevant messages meeting the required criteria have been played), or if no such association has been established, the system toggles to the next queue. (Toggle). Each empty queue provides a queue identification number pointing to the associated category queue 310, and if a message is present in the category queue 310, the call processor 316 is designated in the queue. The first message is retrieved and played. If such a message does not exist, ie, upon exhaustion, or if the category QIN does not exist, the system toggles to the geographic queue 312. If the message is in the geographic queue 312 identified by the caller's PIN (or, if useful, identified by an automatic number identification (ANI)), the next message is played. You. Finally, if such a message does not exist in the PIN or ANI geographic queue 312, the next message in the general queue 314 is played.

Preferably, the search routine is predefined and has a strict mechanism to minimize processing during talk time. This is made possible by the fact that message relationships are pre-established and that the related messages are pre-divided into each queue by the coding logic described below. This allows the system to easily toggle from queue to queue and read the first (next) message in the queue without having to match the message to the telephone subscriber when a call is placed. It becomes possible.

Although preferred embodiments are disclosed herein, many modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, a preferred embodiment is as disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 09 / 015,063, filed Jan. 28, 1998, entitled "Phone System for Transmitting Advertising Messages." Although described with respect to a transmission system, it is envisioned that other transmission systems may be used.
Also, while the preferred embodiment has been described for the case where the user identification is provided using a PIN, other methods are possible and envisioned, including automatic number identification (ANI). Further, the order of some steps may be changed, for example, such that the first advertising message may be played before advising the user to enter a PIN and / or a target number. . Such modifications will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon inspection of the specification, accompanying drawings and claims. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates a call connection process for a telephone user of the system according to one or more aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is an exemplary flowchart of a method of an interactive response and call process for transmitting advertising messages via a telephone system in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is an exemplary flowchart of a method of an interactive response and call process for transmitting an advertising message via a telephone system in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 2C is an exemplary flowchart of a method of an interactive response and call process for transmitting an advertising message via a telephone system in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 2D is an exemplary flowchart of a method of an interactive response and call process for transmitting an advertising message via a telephone system in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top-level configuration of a preferred embodiment of an interactive response and call processing system for transmitting advertising messages via a telephone system in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention.

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Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A method of transmitting an advertisement message to a caller in a telephone system, comprising: transmitting a predetermined number of advertisement messages selected by the caller to correspond to a desired time interval for a call connection. A method for transmitting an advertising message comprising: outputting to a caller; and maintaining a call connection for a desired time interval between the caller and the called party. 2. The advertisement of claim 1 further comprising the step of playing an audible alert to the caller if the remainder of the desired time interval is less than a predetermined time threshold. How to transmit messages for 3. The method for transmitting an advertisement message according to claim 2, further comprising the step of ending said talk time when a part of a desired time interval is zero. 4. A method for transmitting an advertising message to a caller in a telephone system, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a caller with a caller when a given quota time is greater than 0; A method of transmitting an advertising message, comprising: maintaining a call connection; and playing the advertising message to the caller in response to the caller requesting the advertising message. 5. A method for transmitting an advertising message to a caller in a telephone system, comprising: providing a caller with a callee if a given remaining quota time is greater than zero. Maintaining a telephone connection between; and subtracting time from a given remaining allotted time while the telephone connection is maintained; and the telephone caller indicating a request for an additional advertising message. Monitoring the telephone connection to determine if a code has been entered and, upon detecting the telephone code indicating a request for an additional advertising message, transmitting an additional advertising message to the caller. Output, incrementing the message counter, and adding time units to the remaining time allotted. And-up, when the remaining allocated time given is 0, the method of transmitting the advertising message and a step of terminating the phone connection. 6. A method for transmitting an advertising message to a caller in a telephone system, comprising the steps of: outputting an advertising message to a telephone user; and adding a time unit to a given remaining allotted time. Maintaining a telephone connection between the caller and the called party if the given remaining quota time is greater than zero; and while maintaining the telephone connection, Subtracting time from a given remaining quota time, and monitoring the given remaining quota time to determine when the given remaining quota time is less than a predetermined time threshold. When the given remaining allotted time is less than a predetermined time threshold, playing an audible alarm to the caller; Ending the telephone connection if the given remaining quota time is zero. 7. The method of transmitting an advertisement message according to claim 6, wherein the alarm sound is inaudible to a caller. 8. A method of transmitting an advertising message to a telephone user, comprising: (a) receiving a call to a service access number from the telephone user; and (b) entering a desired telephone number. (C) outputting an advertising message to the telephone user; (d) adding a time unit to a given allotted time; To enter the first phone code for the message,
Or advising the telephone user to enter a second telephone code to initiate a connection to the desired telephone number; and (f) responding to the telephone user entering the first telephone code. , Step (c)
Transmitting an advertising message comprising: repeating steps (e) through (e); and (g) initiating a connection to a desired number in response to a telephone user entering a second telephone code. Method. 9. The method of transmitting an advertising message according to claim 8, further comprising the step of: advising the telephone user to enter a personal identification number after receiving a call from the telephone user. 10. A method according to claim 10, further comprising the steps of: receiving a personal identification number from the telephone user; determining whether the personal identification number is valid; Disconnecting the telephone user if a personal identification number has not been entered. 11. The method of transmitting an advertising message according to claim 10, further comprising the step of determining whether said personal identification number is in use.