JP2003091677A - Delivery system and delivery method for advertisement information, and awarding system for valuable item - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system that can award a valuable item such as a reward corresponding to the number of received advertisement mails without requiring a user to present official personal information. SOLUTION: The delivery system for advertisement information, which delivers advertisement information to a person having a portable telephone capable of using a portable mail system capable of transmitting an electronic mail to a portable telephone, comprises an advertisement information transmitting means for transmitting advertisement information by electronic mail to a portable telephone of a registered user, and a registration code notifying means for notifying the user via a communication network of a registration code effective in a rate payment system so configured that the connection of the telephone to a service center via the communication network and the transmission of the registration code to the service center subtracts a given amount from a telephone rate as a reward for the reception of the advertisement information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an advertisement information distribution system and method for distributing advertisement information to a user's mobile phone, and a valuable resource as a prize or a reward for respondents to a questionnaire or applicants for a prize. The present invention relates to a system of giving valuables.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mobile phones (PHS: Personal H
(including andy Phone), the business is active in delivering advertising information to the registered member's mobile phone using the email function.

In such a distribution business, in order to increase the number of recipients of advertisement information, for example, a service of giving a predetermined reward to users according to the number of advertisement mails received is performed. Cash or a gift certificate is used as the reward. For example, cash is paid to the user by bank transfer, and gift certificate is delivered to the user by mail or the like.

[0006] At present, a service (for example, Mobile's Check Service (registered trademark)) is used in which a part of the telephone charge of a mobile phone is deducted using a prepaid card. This service purchases a prepaid card in advance and sends the card number on the back of this card to the service center of the telephone company, so that the amount registered on the card will be deducted from the telephone charge. It is said. The card number is transmitted by calling the service center from the mobile phone and keying in the card number according to the guidance. The service center can automatically recognize the telephone number of the mobile telephone making a call and can calculate the amount of money registered in the card from the inputted card number. Then, by accessing the database of the telephone company that collects telephone charges and registering the amount of the card in the charge data of this telephone number, for example, the registered amount can be deducted from the telephone charge of the next month. Has become.

Such a prepaid card is currently used also in the distribution business of advertisement mails, and it is necessary to send the above-mentioned prepaid card to users by mail as a reward according to the number of received advertisement mails. I was told.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional advertisement mail delivery business, since the reward is given by bank transfer or mail, the real name or address of the user,
Alternatively, public personal information such as a bank account is required. Therefore, when a user becomes a service member, the user must present his / her public personal information to the service provider. The presentation of such public personal information is very reluctant to the users due to problems such as information leakage, which causes the number of users not to grow.

Further, if mailing or bank transfer is used to give a reward to a user, a shipping fee and a transfer fee will be incurred, and therefore, there arises a problem that a small amount of reward cannot be paid. .

Therefore, conventionally, a method has been adopted in which rewards are accumulated until these fees are negligible, and the rewards are given to the user after the reward amount exceeds a certain amount. However, with this method, it takes a very long time before the reward is passed to the user, and there is a problem that the user cannot be satisfied.

The above-mentioned series of problems does not apply only to the advertisement mail distribution business.
The same applies when recruiting subscribers for some kind of service and making monetary payments or refunds to these subscribers, or granting prizes or rewards to applicants such as sweepstakes or questionnaires.

An object of the present invention is to provide a system and method capable of giving valuables such as a reward according to the number of received advertisement mails without requiring the user to present public personal information. To do.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method which have a low commission cost and which can give a small amount of reward such as a reward for receiving an advertisement mail to a user in good proportion.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides advertisement information for delivering advertisement information to a person who owns a mobile phone that can use a mobile mail system capable of sending an electronic mail to a mobile phone. Distribution system of
Advertisement information transmitting means for transmitting advertisement information to the registered user's mobile phone by e-mail, and as a reward for receiving the advertisement information, connect from the phone to the service center via the communication network and register with the service center A registration code notifying means for notifying the user of the above registration code effective for a fee payment system configured to deduct a predetermined amount from the telephone charge by transmitting the code via a communication network. is there. In addition, it is a method of distributing advertisement information in which the advertisement information is transmitted and the registration code is notified by using such means.

According to such means and method, since the registration code is only notified to the user via the communication network in order to give the reward to the user, the public personal information (name, address) of the user is given. , A bank account, etc.) You can give rewards without knowing. Therefore, it is not necessary to request the public personal information of the user when the user is registered as a member, and the user can be registered in the service with peace of mind.

Further, in the notification of the registration code via the communication network, it is possible to reduce a fee such as a postage fee or a transfer fee, so that a relatively small amount of reward can be given to the user in good proportion.

Here, as the above-mentioned fee payment system,
For example, a fee payment service using a prepaid card currently provided by a telephone company or the like can be applied. Also, although it is not currently done, you can purchase only the registration code such as the card number of the above prepaid card in a list form without purchasing the card and use this registration code as in the case of the prepaid card. If a system is realized in which a fixed amount is deducted from the telephone charge by presenting the above to the service center of the telephone company, such a system can be applied as the above-mentioned fee payment system.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an advertisement information distribution system for distributing advertisement information to a person who has a mobile phone that can use a mobile mail system capable of sending an electronic mail to a mobile phone. Therefore, the advertisement information transmitting means for transmitting the advertisement information to the registered user's mobile phone by e-mail and the use of the prepaid money by presenting a predetermined registration code as a reward for receiving the advertisement information The registration code notifying means for notifying the user of the registration code effective for the possible fee payment system via the communication network is provided.

Even by such means, it is possible to give a reward without showing the user's official personal information (name, address, bank account, etc.), so that the user can feel at ease in the service. You can get registered at. Also, since you can notify the registration code without much fee,
Even a relatively small amount of reward can be given to users in a reasonable manner.

Here, the above-mentioned fee payment system is not limited to those related to telephone charges, but can be used in various places such as payment of fees at affiliated stores and payment of expressway usage fees. Is. In such a fee payment system, for example, a code input device for inputting a registration code is installed at a store where the service is used, and a server computer which collects user usage charges and the code input device at the store are connected via a communication line. It can be configured by tying them together. Then, the user stores the registration code in the mobile phone, etc., and when paying the fee at the affiliated store, the user can enter the registration code manually or by using the data communication function of the mobile phone to enter the registration code, and the advance payment can be made. The money paid should be deducted from the charge.

Specifically, the registration code notifying means is
The registration code can be configured to be notified via the Internet. By such means, the registration code can be notified easily and at low cost. Further, at present, a technology for exchanging information with high security via the Internet has been developed, so that security can be improved by using such technology.

As a method of making a notification via the Internet, for example, a method of making a notification using a home page can be used. Specifically, a home page dedicated to each user is set up on the Internet, and the registration code assigned to each user is set to be viewable on these pages. I for the user
This can be realized by setting D and a password, and using this ID and password so that the user can access his or her own home page. Further, various configurations are possible, such as transmitting a homepage address in which the registration code is described to the mobile phone by e-mail and displaying the registration code on the pom page to notify.

Further, it is desirable that the registration code notifying means be configured to send the registration code to the mobile phone, which is the destination of the advertisement information, by electronic mail.

According to such means, the registration code can be notified most quickly, at low cost, easily, and in a user-friendly manner.

Further, the valuable resource providing system of the present invention is
A registration code is distributed based on the payment of money in advance, and by presenting this registration code, you can use the money paid in advance. In the granting system, the registration code notifying means for notifying the third party of the registration code of the fee payment system via the communication network is provided.

[0024] According to such means, for example, in a situation where valuables such as rewards and prizes are given to these people instead of recruiting a third party to do something,
Third party official personal information (name, address, bank account, etc.)
Since it is possible to give valuables without the presentation of, it is possible for these persons to accept the recruitment with peace of mind. Further, since valuables can be provided at low cost, there is an effect that even a small amount of valuables can be provided in good proportion.

In such a valuable resource granting system, for example, a company, an organization, a group, a group, etc. pays, refunds, cashes back, discounts, redeems cash to members, contractors, or subscribers. Alternatively, it is useful when making a financial return. Further, it is useful when paying a prize, a reward, or a fee to an applicant for a prize, a questionnaire, a monitor, or a contribution.

[0026]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, a series of flows of this advertisement information distribution service will be described. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a series of flows of an advertisement information distribution service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The advertisement information distribution service according to this embodiment is a service that uses the advertisement information distribution system and distribution method of the present invention and the valuable resource providing system, and is provided by the operator of FIG. Is.

As shown in "Membership" in FIG. 1, in this advertisement information distribution service, the operator first recruits users who receive advertisements to become members. The user needs to have a mobile phone that can use both the e-mail transmission / reception function and a fee payment system (for example, Mobile's Check (registered trademark)) that can pay the telephone fee using a prepaid card.

When the user becomes a member, the operator provides private personal information such as information for identifying an individual, an approximate area in which the user lives, and approximate age, sex and hobbies. To present. These private personal information is used in creating a distribution list of advertisement information. In the present invention, the personal identification information may be a name, but may be a nickname or a pen name. Therefore, since public personal information such as real name and address is unnecessary, the user has relatively little resistance.

Member registration is, for example, a mobile phone where the user accesses the page of the subscriber form on the operator's home page using a mobile phone, a computer or the like, and receives the above-mentioned private personal information or advertisement mail. Enter the necessary information such as the email address of the above and send it to the operator side, or use the email function of the mobile phone to enter the above-mentioned private personal information etc. It is done by sending to the e-mail address for.

In this advertisement information distribution service,
The operator receives a request for advertisement distribution from a client serving as an advertiser (“ad placement” in FIG. 1) and receives income from the advertisement distribution fee (“advertising fee” in FIG. 1). For advertisement requests, along with the content of the advertisement email,
The conditions to be the distribution target of the advertisement mail, such as age, living district, and gender, are also presented.

Then, based on this advertisement request, the host computer of the distribution service creates advertisement mails to the distribution target persons and transmits them via the Internet (“advertisement distribution” in FIG. 1).

In this way, the advertisement mail is transmitted to the member's mobile phone, but as shown in "Mail reception fee" in FIG. 1, the mobile phone generally incurs a telephone charge for mail reception. Therefore, in order to secure subscribers to the service, it is effective to give a certain reward to the member for receiving the advertisement mail, and even in the distribution service according to this embodiment, a certain reward is given. It is designed to be given to members as cashback. The reward is provided by using the fee payment system using the prepaid card.

Here, a fee payment service using a prepaid card will be briefly described. This fee payment service is a service operated by a tie-up institution called a telephone company or a carrier, and pays a part of a mobile phone fee using a prepaid card in which a card number is described. The purchaser and the user of the prepaid card may be different people, and the user does not need to be a special member to use this service. With this prepaid card, you can easily deduct a certain amount from your mobile phone bill.

Specifically, a card number is written on the back surface of the card, and the card is covered with peelable overprinting. In addition, the purchase price of the card and the telephone charge deducted by this card are set to the same amount.
The card user knows the card number by exposing the card number by peeling the overprint on the back of the card with a coin or the like. Then, by making a call to the service center of this fee payment service with a mobile phone and keying in the above card number according to the guidance, the amount of the prepaid card will be deducted from the telephone fee of the next month.

The operator of the distribution service purchases a certain number of the above prepaid cards in advance, exposes all the card numbers, and creates a card number list of the prepaid cards. Furthermore, the operator of the distribution service manages points according to the number of mails received by each member using the host computer. Then, when this point exceeds a certain number, as a cashback, a reward mail stating the card number of the prepaid card is transmitted to the member (“cashback” in FIG. 1).

FIG. 2 shows an example of an image diagram of the reward mail in which the card number transmitted to the mobile phone is described. The reward email is, for example, a nickname representing each member, a salutation, the number of points accumulated so far by receiving an advertisement email, and a statement notifying that the payment will be cashed back using the prepaid card fee payment system, It describes a card number for deducting the cash back telephone charge and a procedure for deducting the cash back portion from the telephone charge by using this card number.

When the member receives this reward email,
You can receive a service that deducts a predetermined amount from the next month's telephone charge by calling the service center of the charge payment service with a mobile phone according to the procedure described in the mail and entering the card number described in the mail by key input. .

Next, the configuration of the distribution system used to provide the above-mentioned advertisement information distribution service will be described in detail. The system of the above advertisement information distribution service is a server computer that publishes a homepage on the Internet for recruiting and registering subscribers, data management of member information and card numbers of prepaid cards, advertisement mails and rewards to members It consists of a host computer that delivers mail.

Although not shown, the server computer and the host computer are CPUs that control the entire apparatus.
(Central Processing Unit) and RAM (Rand that provides a memory space for expanding programs and data to the CPU
om Access Memory), a storage device such as a hard disk in which programs and data executed by the CPU are stored, an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard, and a communication device for performing data communication by connecting to a communication network such as the Internet or a LAN. It is a general computer equipped with. These host computer and server computer are connected via a LAN.

The server computer has a function of publishing a home page on the Internet, and the home page of the server computer can be viewed using a mobile phone. The server computer also has a function as a mail server that sends and receives electronic mail.

A database for managing member information, card numbers, etc. is built in the storage device of the host computer. The host computer has a function of managing and operating these databases. Further, the host computer has a function of distributing advertisement mail using this database and distributing reward mail as cashback processing via the mail server of the server computer.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of a database constructed by the host computer. A member database 11 in which personal data of each member is registered in a database 10 constructed by a host computer,
A distribution destination database 12 that manages a distribution destination list of advertisement mails, a point database 13 that manages points according to the number of received advertisement mails, and a return destination database 14 that manages a recipient list of reward mails. There is a card number database 15 for managing the card numbers of prepaid cards.

The member database 11 is a member code for identifying each member, a nickname presented to the user at the time of member registration, an approximate area of living, an approximate age, occupation, sex, and other personal information. , And the e-mail address of the mobile phone is registered for each member. Such personal information is transferred from the server computer to the host computer at the time of member registration.

The distribution destination database 12 is registered with a list of members who perform advertisement distribution of the case, that is, a distribution destination list, for each case of the advertisement request. Since the distribution of the advertisement mail is performed to the members who meet the conditions specified by the client at the time of requesting the advertisement, first, after being requested, the members satisfying this condition are searched by using the member database 11. The data of the corresponding members are collectively registered as the distribution destination list of this requested item. In the distribution destination list, for example, the member code and electronic mail address of the corresponding member are registered.

The point database 13 is for registering the points of each member according to the reception of the advertisement mail. For example, 500 points, 500 points
The amount of reward is decided as if the cashback for yen is made. For example, a rule is decided beforehand such that one point is added for each reception of an advertisement mail. Has been. Point database 13
Is updated every time an advertisement mail is delivered,
The points of the members registered in the distribution destination list are added by a predetermined number. Further, when the cashback process is performed, the cashback portion is deducted from the points of the corresponding member.

The card number database 15 is for registering the card number of a prepaid card used for cashback processing for members. That is, after the operator of this service purchases a fixed number of prepaid cards, the card number written on the back side is registered in this database. Information on whether or not the card number has already been used is registered in the database together with the card number. Since the card number itself has the same value as money, it is strictly managed.

In the payback destination database 14, a list of members to which the reward mail is transmitted, that is, a payback destination list, is registered in the cashback process. That is, the points database 13 is periodically used to search for members who have exceeded a certain number of points, and a list of corresponding members is created, and the return destination database 14 is created.
Be registered with. The return destination database 14 also stores a return destination list created in the past so that the history of members who have sent reward emails in past cashback processing can be known.

Next, the advertisement mail delivery process and cashback process executed by the host computer will be described in detail with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the advertisement mail distribution process executed by the host computer.
This distribution process of the advertisement mail is periodically executed based on the request from the client. When this distribution process is started, first, in step S1, a process of confirming with the operator whether or not the distribution destination list has been created is performed. If created, the process moves to step S4, and if not created, the step Go to S2.

As a result, if the distribution destination list is not created and the process proceeds to step S2, the process of inputting the conditions of the distribution target person is performed in that step, and the distribution destination list generation process based on this condition is performed in the following step S3. Done. This distribution destination list generation processing is performed by using the member database 11 to search for members who meet the above conditions and listing the data of the matched members. The generated distribution destination list is the distribution destination database 12 Be registered with. Then, when the distribution destination list is generated, the process proceeds to step 5.

On the other hand, when the distribution destination list has been created and the process proceeds to step S4, in the step, the operator is caused to select the distribution destination list used in the distribution processing of this time from the distribution destination database 12, and if selected, the step is executed. The process moves to S5.

In step S5, the data file in which the advertisement text to be distributed is input is input, and in the subsequent step S6, an electronic mail is created. That is, the advertisement text is moved from the advertisement text data file input in step S5 to the subject or body of the email, and
The distribution list specified in step S4 or step S
An electronic mail addressed to the distribution list created in 3 is created.

Then, the electronic mail is transmitted in step S7. The advertisement information transmitting means is configured by the processing of steps S3 to S7 described above.

Next, in step S8, the point database 13 is updated to perform a process of adding a predetermined point to the points of each member who is registered in the distribution list and to which the electronic mail is transmitted, and the distribution process of this advertisement mail is performed. To finish.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of cashback processing executed by the host computer. The cashback process is a process that is executed regularly, for example, on a certain day of every month. When this cash-back process is started, first, in step S11, the points database 13 is searched for members who have accumulated a predetermined number of points, such as 500 points, and in the subsequent step S12, these members are listed and returned to the recipient. After the list is created and registered in the return destination database 14, the process proceeds to step S13.

In step S13, a reward mail is created using the return destination list created in step S12 and the card number list in the card number database 15. That is, one for each member on the return destination list, addressed to the e-mail addresses of these members, and in the fixed text format as shown in FIG. 2, the member's nickname and the card number of the card number list Compose an email by inserting and.

Then, these electronic mails are transmitted in step S14. That is, the above steps S12 to S1
The registration code notifying means is constituted by the processing of 4.

Next, in step S15, the point database 13 is updated to perform a process of subtracting the cashed back points from the points of each member registered in the above-mentioned return destination list and to which the electronic mail is transmitted, and then step S16. Move to.

In step S16, the card number database 15 is updated, and the card numbers used in the e-mail creating process in step S13 are checked so that the card number list is checked. That is, the card number sent to the member once is checked as a used number, and is set so as not to be used for the subsequent transmission of the card number. Then, this cashback process is terminated.

As described above, according to the advertisement information delivery system and delivery method of this embodiment, the card number is simply sent to the member by electronic mail in order to give the member a reward for receiving the advertisement mail. As a result, the reward can be granted without the need to show official personal information such as the member's real name, address, or bank account. Therefore, when registering a user as a member, it is not necessary to request public personal information, which has hitherto been a strong resistance to the user, and the user can be registered in the service with peace of mind.

Also, since the card number is sent by e-mail without a fee such as a postage fee or a transfer fee, a relatively small reward such as 500 yen or 1000 yen can be given to the user in a reasonable manner. I can. Therefore, it is possible to satisfy the user by shortening the period until the points are accumulated and cashed back.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, the card number of the prepaid card purchased in advance was used as the reward to be given to the member, but instead of purchasing the prepaid card one by one, only the card numbers having the same value are purchased in the list format. If it is realized, the reward may be similarly given using this card number.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the one using the prepaid type fee payment system used for the payment of mobile phone charges, but the one in which the registration code is recorded is purchased by the prepaid method and the registration code is presented. Anything that can be used for payment at affiliated stores, toll gates on expressways, etc., can be used as a reward to be given to members in the same manner as for mobile phone charges. Such a fee payment system can be realized by the configuration shown in the item of means for solving the problem.

Further, the method of notifying the member of the registration code such as the card number through the communication network is not limited to the method of sending the cellular phone by e-mail, and for example, the home page for each member can be browsed by entering the password. It is possible to use various methods, such as creating the above and posting it on this home page, or sending the address of the home page where the card number is posted to the mobile phone by e-mail to notify.

Further, in the embodiment, an example has been shown in which the user provides the private personal information of the user when becoming a member, but it is also necessary to provide such private personal information. Instead, the system may be one in which the user is made a member.

As an example of a system for providing a service for distributing advertisement information, a server computer and a host computer are shown, but both functions can be realized by a single computer, and a larger number of them are possible. The computers may cooperate with each other to perform processing of the entire advertisement information distribution service.

In the above embodiment, the case of the distribution service of the advertisement mail that distributes the advertisement information to the registered member's mobile phone has been described. However, the valuable resource providing system of the present invention can be applied to various other services. It is useful when applied to the provision of valuable materials to a third party. For example,
This is also useful when the service provider provides a refund or discount to some service subscriber, or when a prize or a reward is paid to an applicant for a prize or a questionnaire.

[0069]

As described above, according to the present invention,
User's official personal information (name, address, bank account, etc.)
Since it is possible to give a reward to the user even without the presentation of the above, it is not necessary to request the presentation of public personal information, which has been a strong resistance for the user when registering the user as a member. Therefore, there is an effect that the user can feel free to register for the service.

Further, in the notification of the registration code via the communication network, since it is possible to reduce fees such as postage and transfer fees, it is possible to give a relatively small amount of reward to the user in good proportion. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a series of flows of an advertisement information distribution service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an image diagram showing an example of a reward mail transmitted to a mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a database constructed by a host computer of a distribution service.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an advertisement mail delivery process executed by a host computer of a delivery service.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of cashback processing executed by a host computer of a distribution service.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 database 11 Member Database 12 Delivery destination database 13 point database 14 Return destination database 15 card number database

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06F 13/00 540 G06F 13/00 540P H04M 3/42 H04M 3/42 R 3/487 3/487 11 / 08 11/08 15/00 15/00 Z H04Q 7/38 H04B 7/26 109M

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A distribution system of advertisement information, which distributes advertisement information to a person who owns a mobile phone capable of using a mobile mail system capable of sending an electronic mail to a mobile phone, wherein the registered mobile phone of the user. An advertisement information transmitting means for transmitting advertisement information to a telephone by e-mail, and as a reward for receiving the advertisement information, the telephone fee is established by connecting the telephone to a service center via a communication network and transmitting a registration code to the service center. A registration code notification means for notifying a user of the above registration code effective for a fee payment system configured to deduct a predetermined amount from the distribution network, and distribution of advertisement information, characterized by: system. 2. A distribution system of advertisement information for distributing advertisement information to a person who owns a mobile phone capable of using a mobile mail system capable of transmitting an electronic mail to a mobile phone, the mobile phone of a registered user. The above-mentioned registration that is effective for the fee payment system that allows you to use prepaid money by presenting a predetermined registration code as a reward for receiving advertisement information A distribution system for advertising information, comprising: a registration code notifying means for notifying a user of a code via a communication network. 3. The advertisement information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the registration code notifying means sends the registration code to a mobile phone, which is a destination of the advertisement information, by electronic mail. 4. A method of distributing advertisement information, which distributes advertisement information to a person who owns a mobile phone capable of using a mobile mail system capable of sending an electronic mail to a mobile phone, wherein the registered mobile phone of the user. A procedure for transmitting advertisement information to a telephone by e-mail, and as a reward for receiving the advertisement information, the telephone fee is established by connecting the telephone to a service center via a communication network and transmitting a registration code to the service center. A registration code notification procedure for notifying a user of the above registration code effective for a fee payment system configured to deduct a predetermined amount from the user through a communication network, and distribution of advertisement information characterized by the following: Method. 5. A registration code is distributed based on prepaid money, and by presenting this registration code, valuables can be provided to a third party who can use a fee payment system that enables the use of prepaid money. The system for providing valuables, wherein the system for providing valuables comprises registration code notifying means for notifying the third party of the registration code of the fee payment system via a communication network.