GB2447869A - SMS text message date reminder service - Google Patents

Abstract

Subscribers to the service are reminded of important dates in the future via periodical SMS text messages. The SMS text messages are charged at a premium rate or are provided under a subscription arrangement with the service provider. The process is very simple and a subscriber needs only input their own personal details into the service website. A subscriber will then invite their friends or relatives to subscribe and join a group. Subscribers will then receive SMS text messages which are sent periodically, for example every two weeks, informing them of the birthdays and anniversaries of their fellow group members in the forthcoming period which may be for example 1 or 2 weeks.

Description

Description.

SMS Text Message Date Reminder Service This is a process where a subscriber to the service is reminded of their relatives and friends birthdays, anniversaries and other important dates via periodical SMS text messages without the inconvenience of having to populate a database with all of these dates themselves The database of dates grows organically as the subscriber invites others to subscribe and join a group to share the information l'he SMS Text Messages are generated periodically and arc charged at a premium rate or by way of subscription to the service.

I came up with this idea because I was forever forgetting my friends, and their ever expanding families, birthdays, wedding anniversaries and addresses. I do not use a conventional diary and was very conscious that the mobile telephone is one of the few things that most people keep with them at all times which makes it the ideal tool to remind them about important dates.

The process is very simple and key to the simplicity is the fact that each subscriber needs only input one set of personal details, their own. This is done through the service web site which then stores the details of each individual subscriber in a database. The most important feature of the service is that each subscriber does not need to spend time filling in their friends or relatives details because this is done automatically when they invite their friends to join a group. The information is transmitted periodically to group members by way of SMS Text Messages which are charged at a premium rate or are sent as part of a subscription to the service.

I have broken down (lie process using Subscriber A and Subscriber B as examples of subscribers'.

Step 1. Using a computer Subscriber A will access the service web site in order to register and submit details to create a new account. Details such as Name, Date of Birth, Marital Status, Partner / Spouse Dale of Birth, Childrens Date of Birth, Wedding Anniversary will be stored within the database relating to Subscriber A. Address information may also he stored although address information is not required for this service to work.

Step 2. Subscriber A then updates a section of their account on the service web site with email addresses of people they would like to invite into their group, i.e those people whose birthdays and anniversaries that Subscriber A would like to be reminded of in their periodical SMS text messages. In this example the name and email address of Subscriber B is provided by Subscriber A. Step 3. The service then generates an e-mail on behalf of Subscnber A which is sent to the invitees', in this example Subscriber B, asking Subscriber B to register by providing the same personal details that Subscriber A gave in Step 1. When Subscriber B has done this they will he asked by the service provider if they allow Subscriber A to be have access to Subscriber Bs information. If Subscriber B permits this then a link is made within the database connecting Subscriber A with Subscriber B. Step 4. Periodically, Subscriber A will receive an SMS text message giving details of the birthdays and anniversaries of everyone who is connected to Subscriber A's group for the forthcoming period The forthconung period may, fr example, be one week, two weeks or one month.

For example if one of Subscriber A's periodically generated SMS is generated on 01 March 2007, giving details for the next two weeks, and Subscriber B's birthday is on 09 March 2007 then the SMS text message might read something like the following on Subscriber A's mobile telephone: We have pleasure in reminding Subscriber A of the following important dates: Birthdays: Subscriber B's is on 09 March 2007.

Anniversaries: There are none Thank you for using this service.

Key Features: Easy to update information Each subscriber only needs to their own set of details.

Information is provided directly to each subscriber's mobile phone. After initial registration to set up an account there is no further requirement for a subscriber to access the internet in order to recene the information.

Growth is organic Each subscriber invites their friends and relatives to join a group and therefore the subscription numbers increase rapidly.

Claims (3)

Claims.

1. An SMS Text Messaging Date Reminder Service which sends penodical text niessages to subscribers to remind them about important dates which are happening in future

2. An SMS Text Messaging Date Reminder Service according to claim 1. the dates used as the basis of the text messages having been populated by a subscriber inviting other subscribers to share date information by way of a database or other data storage device.

3. An SMS Text Messaging Date Reminder Service according to claim I and claim 2 which may be provide in return for a periodical subscription fee.

4 An SMS Text Messaging Date Reminder Service according to claim I and claim 2 which may be provided as a premium rate SMS Text Messaging service.