WO2007114854A2

WO2007114854A2 - Method of providing a communication service

Info

Publication number: WO2007114854A2
Application number: PCT/US2006/060768
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kaj Mickos; Johan Oest
Original assignee: Innovation Factory Inc.
Priority date: 2005-11-12
Filing date: 2006-11-10
Publication date: 2007-10-11
Also published as: WO2007114854A3

Abstract

The method is a communicating service that provides a service provider (18) that has a website (16) with an activation field for an IP telephony program (14). A user (12) downloads the program (14) from the website (16). The program is displayed to the user (12) with a logo client (24) of the service provider (18). The program has a flash function (39) to open a communication channel (44) between the service provider (18) and the user (12) to enable the service provider to send messages (40) to the user.

Description

METHOD OF PROVIDING A COMMUNICATION SERVICE

Technical Field

The method of the present invention relates to a communication service based on IP telephony technology. More particularly, it is a method that creates two-way communication channels between a service provider and the user so that the user may be reached with messages while providing the user with a free program that enables IP telephony.

Background of Invention

Internet-based telephony has now been used for some time. This has become quite popular since many computers are permanently connected to the Internet with broadband connection. Telephones, computers and other electronic communication devices are also connected by wireless technology to the Internet.

It is therefore possible to make free phone calls over the Internet as long as the receiver is connected to the Internet also and is equipped with compatible or identical telephony programs .

Internet advertising is also increasing in popularity. It is quite common to send unsolicited and annoying commercial emails, so called SPAM, to Internet users. The senders of these types of emails send out very large volumes but they are not focused on the interests and needs of the recipients of the commercial messages. There is a need for a more effective way to communicate commercial messages to Internet users while providing the user with a useful service.

Summary of Invention

The method of the present invention provides a solution to the above-outlined problems. More particularly, the method is a communicating service that provides a service provider that has a website with an activation field for an IP telephony program. A user downloads the program from the website. The program is displayed to the user with a logo client of the service provider. The program has a flash function to open a communication channel between the service provider and the user to enable the service provider to send messages to the user.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an advertisement using the method of the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow diagram of the components of the system of the present invention.

Detailed Description

With reference to Figs. 1-2, the method and system 10 of the present system enables a user 12 to download a free IP-telephony program 14. An important feature of the present invention is that the program 14 is branded so that it appears to the user 12 that the program 14 is delivered by a service provider 18 such as an organization, company or any other entity that normally is not associated with offering telephony services . The user may visit a website 16 of the service provider 18 or an interactive advertisement on any website and click on an activation field 17 to initiate the downloading of the program 14. The user 12 may use any suitable communication device such as computers, mobile communication devices or any other stationary or mobile electronic communication device. Prior to activation and downloading of the program 14, the user 12 must register and may be required to provide a name 50, address 52, user name 54, password 56 or any other identification. By providing the user's email address 58, the user 12 may gain access to the program 14 even though the user may have forgotten, for example, the user name and password.

Upon registration, the user 12 is provided with a real and unique telephone number 60 so that the user may call a community 62 of users for free. Preferably, this number 60 may be used worldwide and from anywhere so that the user can bring the number when traveling.

The community 62 may include everybody that has downloaded the program 14 from the website 16 of the service provider 18. The user may also call other users of the program 14 for free although those users are not part of the community 62 as long as they have the same program 14 developed by the program developer 15 or a similar compatible program. The user 12 may also call other users 63 that are not part of the community by paying a small fee for those telephone calls via, the conventional analog and/or mobile telephone networks, that are equivalent to local telephone calls although the telephone call may be a long distance telephone call. The program will be displayed as a display 20 on the user's computer screen 22. As described in detail below, a communication channel 44 is also established between the service provider and the user. The display may include a logo client 24 of the service provider 18 and an interactive advertisement or message 26 of an advertising sponsor 28. The logo client 24 may include a logo 25 of the service provider 18 so that it appears to the user that the service provider 18 is providing the telephony service.

There are also fields for interactively responding to the advertisement and other messages. For example, the user of the program 14 may activate or respond to the message 26 by simply clicking on an activation field 30. If, for example, the message is a news flash, the user may click on the message to obtain more detailed information. If the user has already the IP-telephony program, then the user 12 may automatically call the sponsor 28 without having to look up telephone numbers. The message 26 may also be set up so that by clicking on the advertisement a phone number 27 to the advertising entity 28 appears on the computer screen 22. The user may then initiate a phone call to the phone number 27 by clicking on it. The user 12 also has the option of adding a telephone number to a field on the advertisement 26 to which the sponsor 28 may call at a later time. When the user responds to an advertisement the user may download a logo client from the sponsor of the advertisement. When the downloading is completed it is possible to activate a telephone connection between the sponsor of the advertisement and the new user.

If the user does not have the program 14 downloaded but would like the program, then the user can activate a download field 32 to download the program. If the user would like to respond to the advertisement without downloading the program 14 or be called at a different telephone number, then the user may enter another telephone number 34 in a field 36 and click on the field 36 to activate it. In this way, the entity 28 may call the telephone number 34.

As indicated above, the program 14 has a streaming and/or flash function 39 build into it to establish the communication channel 44 so that the service provider 18 may send messages 40, such as commercial messages or news of recent events, to the user's screen 20. The function 39 is similar to a computer "cookie" to establish a connection with the user's computer. In this way, the communication channel 44 is established between the service provider 18 and the user 12 so that the user may automatically receive information from the service provider so that the user is continuously updated with news flashes and other important information to the user. This information may be directed to members of the community 62 to which the user 12 is a member. Of course, the information from the service provider may be any information. The messages 40 may sent to the user's screen 20 whether the user is making telephone calls or not.

The user may respond to the messages 40 by simply- clicking in a field 43 on the message and a telephone call is made from the user 12 to a sponsor 45 of the message 40. This establishes a communication channel 47 between the user 12 and the sponsor, such as the sponsor 45, or a communication channel 49 to the service provider 18 that in turn communicates with the user 12 via the communication channel 44.

Each time the user clicks on the message 40 or the advertisement 26, the service provider 18 receives a kick-back from the sponsor of the message or advertisement. In this way, sponsors may reach focused groups of users such as members of the community 62.

The branding of users is an important feature of the method of the present invention and provides two-way communication channels between the service provider and the users so that interactive advertisements and other messages may effectively be sent to the users who have downloaded the IP telephony numbers.

It may be possible to provide a service so that the user may provide information about the actual location of the user in case of an emergency such as the need to send an ambulance to the user. This could be an important add-on service since Internet-based telephony does not normally make it possible to determine the actual location of the user. This extra service may also make it possible for advertising companies to send commercial messages to the user that are adapted to the actual location of the user. It is also possible to use a global positioning system to locate the user when the user is using portable communication devices such as laptops and advanced mobile telephone/computers.

The present invention also includes a click-to-call service. This shows how the seller of the services can see which advertisement the buyer is calling about. The seller can also see who the buyer is since the service may be connected to and internal or external database such as Yellow Pages. If the buyer is already a registered or branded customer then the seller obtains not only information about which advertisement the buyer is calling about but also all information about the buyer such as prior purchasing history of the buyer and other information provided by the buyer during the branding or registration process. The seller can also directly see what the buyer's preferences are. For example, if the advertisement is about selling hotel services and the branded buyer has previously stayed at the hotel, the seller can immediately see the buyer' s stated preferences or buying behavior during the previous stay, such as non-smoking room, size of room, room service, payment method etc. This immediate access to information about the buyer gives the seller an advantage when attempting to sell new services. The seller simply clicks on or otherwise activates the buyer' s telephone number so that information about the buyer can be shown to the seller. If the information is obtained from an external database, it is of course possible to use this information to update the seller' s own database for future use .

The buyer only needs to click on the electronic advertisement in order to respond to the advertisement when the buyer has the downloaded the program that includes the features of the present invention. Otherwise, the buyer must fill in the buyer' s telephone number and the service provider of the system of the present invention connects a call to both the buyer and the seller so that both are called up. In this way, the service of the present invention also works if a completely independent advertisement is used that is not connected or associated with of the service of the present invention. It is only necessary for the buyer to be branded, i.e. a registered user of the service of the present invention.

It is also possible to customized information so that is it particularly useful to certain user such as hotel guests. The service may include a global positioning feature so that the advertisement may be customized to the buyers' geographical position at the time of contacting the advertisement. For example, a suitable global positioning system may be used. The buyer may also be required to provide the seller with the buyer's positioning information. While the present invention has been described in accordance with preferred compositions and embodiments, it is to be understood that certain substitutions and alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Claims

Claims :

1. A method of communicating, comprising: providing a service provider (18) having a website (16) with an activation field for an IP telephony program (14); a user (12) downloading the program (14) from the website (16); the program being displayed to the user (12) with a logo client (24) of the service provider (18) ; and the program having a flash function (39) to open a communication channel (44) between the service provider (18) and the user (12) to enable the service provider to send messages (40) to the user.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the method further comprises the user making a telephone call using the IP telephony program (14) by activating the logo client (24) .

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a sponsor reaching a community (62) belonging to the service provider (18) by sponsoring the message (40) on the website (16), the user (12) is a member of the community (62) because the user has downloaded the program (14) via the service provider (18).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the user clicking on the message (40) to displaying more detailed information about the message.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the user activating the message (40) to automatically initiate a telephone call to a sponsor of the message (40) .

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the user establishing a communication channel (45) with the sponsor by activating the message (40) .

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the user activating the message (40) to automatically initiate a telephone call from a sponsor of the message (40) to the user (12).

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises opening a two-way communication channel between the service provider and the user.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the user making a telephone call to a member of a community (62) for free, the community including users who have downloaded the program (14) .

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises providing the service provider (18) with compensation for each activation on the website (16) initiated by the user (12) .

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises the service provider providing a program developer (15) of the program (14) for each activation initiated by the user (12) .