JP2003535509A - Method and apparatus for telecommunications advertising - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] Telecommunication advertising means is disclosed. The telecommunications advertising means includes an advertising database connected to the processing means. The advertisement database stores subscriber-specific or third-party advertisements that are selectively associated with communications within the telecommunications network. The selective association is performed by the processing means. In one embodiment, a router is connected to the advertisement database. A router routes communications from a source to a destination in a telecommunications network. The router also routes advertisements associated with the communication to the source and destination of the communication. A telecommunications system is also disclosed. The telecommunications system includes a network subsystem that includes telecommunication advertising means. The telecommunication advertising means comprises an advertisement database and processing means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to telecommunications, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for telecommunications advertising.

[0002]

[Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

Currently, the field of telecommunications is expanding rapidly. As a result, new products and services are constantly appearing on the market, which are more appropriate for individual users,
And promise more information, presented in a more timely manner. It's an exciting time for consumers interested in such products and services,
However, the cost of such products and services can be very high. For example, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and cellular phones can cost hundreds of dollars depending on the features and functionality involved. Moreover, sending 1 megabyte of data content over a wireless network can be hundreds of times more expensive than sending the same data over a fixed network. Obviously, consumers will prefer lower costs before they start using many of these new telecommunications products and services. Unfortunately, providers of these products and services require more users before they can significantly reduce costs. Advertising is one way to help cost the new products and services and make them more affordable to consumers.

In telecommunications networks, it has been proposed that advertisement messages be applied to the calling party's line during the ring of a ringback signal.
For example, such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,382 (Sleevi Patent) issued to Sleevi. The Sliebi patent further states that a given message may be associated with a calling party based on the telephone number of the calling party, the telephone number of the called party, or the long distance carrier on either side. is suggesting. In addition, the message can be modified based on the time of day, the day of the week, or the date of the month. However, one drawback to these proposals is that they are targeted to the caller side only and message association is based on a limited number of criteria. further,
Using only the time between ringing signals limits the type and number of messages that can be played to the caller. Another drawback is that the above proposals are intended for fixed analog telecommunication networks only. However,
New telecommunications systems offer expanded opportunities to serve highly targeted advertising. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for providing advertising that can be used to help with the costs of products and services associated with these new systems.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

A telecommunications advertising means is disclosed. The telecommunication advertising means comprises an advertising database connected to the processing means. The advertisement database stores subscriber-specific or third party advertisements that are selectively associated with communications in a telecommunications network. The selective association is performed by the processing means. In one embodiment, a router is connected to the advertising database. The router routes source to destination communications within the telecommunications network. The router also routes advertisements associated with the communication to the source and destination of the communication.

Telecommunications systems are also disclosed. The telecommunications system comprises a network subsystem including telecommunications advertising means. The telecommunications advertising means comprises an advertising database and processing means.

Methods of telecommunication advertising, as well as various other embodiments of telecommunication advertising means, are also disclosed. These other embodiments and further features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail below.

The above object is solved by a method and device for telecommunication advertising according to the combination of the features of claims 1, 14, 21, 30, 33, 49 and 55. The remaining claims include further embodiments of methods and apparatus for telecommunications advertising. Furthermore, the subject matter of the present invention includes any possible subcombinations of the claims.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiments of the invention taught herein are illustrated by way of illustration and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like components in different embodiments are included for ease of explanation. Referenced by the same reference number.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a telecommunications advertising means 100 according to the present invention. The telecommunications advertising means 100 is preferably an integral part of the telecommunications service provider's network and comprises an advertising database 102 and a processing means 10.
4 and the router 106. The advertisement database 102 stores a plurality of advertisements that can be played to system users at appropriate times based on appropriate criteria. In one embodiment, the advertisement may comprise a message that is unique to a given subscriber or that is an advertisement from a third party advertiser. The processing means 104 selectively associates at least one advertisement in the advertisement database 102 with an incoming communication 108. For example, in one embodiment, the processing means 104 associates the advertisement with the originator 110 of the incoming communication 108. In another embodiment, the processing means 104 includes the incoming communication 10
8, the ad is associated with the destination 112, and in another embodiment, the processing means 104 associates the ad with both the source 110 and the destination 112 of the incoming communication 108. In each of the above-described embodiments, the processing means 104 may actually associate multiple advertisements, rather than a single advertisement, with the source 110 and / or the destination 112 of the incoming communication 108.

The router 106 receives the incoming communication 108 and connects it to the appropriate destination 112. The router 106 may be, for example, part of a fixed line telecommunications network, such as PSTN or ISDN, which typically connects ordinary telephones to each other via a switching center. In this case, the telecommunications advertising means 100, and thus the router 106, may be included in such a switching center. In the example of a typical fixed telecommunications network, a switching center is a facility of a telephone company, commonly called a central office, whereas a switching center is a toll office, a private branch exchange (PBX), or the like. May be.

The typical process by which the router 106 operates within the switching center is illustrated by the steps of FIG. First, in step 202, the caller off-hooks his telephone, which closes the switch hook contact and notifies the local (or regional) switching center of the service request. However, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, service requests may also be generated in various other ways known in the art. For example, for a cordless telephone, the service request signal may be generated by pressing the talk (TALK) or call (CALL) button. Similarly, some phones include a NEW CALL button to initiate service. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to any particular method of generating a service request signal.

In step 204, the switching center rings a tone on the caller's line and waits for the caller to dial a number. The number is dialed in step 206 and the switching center translates the digits that make up the number. Some part of the number, typically the first three digits, indicates whether the call is an inter-station call or the same station call, ie the call is routed through a second central office. Indicates whether or not it is necessary to Therefore, in step 208, the switching center determines whether the call is an inter-office call, and if the call is an inter-office call, an open connection or an open trunk to another central office is selected. (Step 210). In step 212, the switching center determines the state of the called party's line once the trunk is seized or when the call is not of the same station and therefore is not needed.
As best seen in FIG. 1, the called party is the destination 112 of the incoming communication 108.
Is. If the telephone at the called party's location is busy, then a busy signal is applied to the calling party's line at step 214. If the telephone at the called party's location is free, a ring signal is applied to the called party's line at step 216 to activate the ringer at the called party's telephone. At the same time, step 218
At, a ringing signal is applied to the line of the calling party. When the telephone is answered by the called party (step 220), the off-hook condition terminates the ringing signal and the parties (ie, the calling party and the called party) are connected. At the end of the conversation, the phones are returned to their on-hook state (step 222) and the line and trunk are released.

Thus, in the example of a fixed telecommunications network, the router 106 forms an integral part of the switching center's circuitry and system. The processing means 104 may be integrated in the circuits and systems that make up the switching center. actually,
In some embodiments, the processing means 104 may be integrated with the router 106. Advertising database 102 may be a stand-alone database or may be integrated with the resources residing within a particular switching center. Furthermore, the components that make up the telecommunications advertising means 100 are actually
It can be distributed throughout the network.

The following examples are described to further illustrate the above possibilities. In one embodiment, telecommunications advertising means 100 may be included in a switching center such as a central office. Depending on the features of the embodiment, each component of the means 100 may be independent within the central office or integrated into the circuits and systems that make up the central office. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the components that make up the telecommunication means 100 may be distributed over the central offices in the network. In other words, the router 106 may be present at each of the central offices that make up the fixed telecommunications network. However, the advertisement database 102 and the processing means 104 may be contained within one particular central office or may be distributed with the router 106.

Although source 110 is described above as a telephone, incoming communication 108
The sender 110 of is not limited to a telephone. For example, in another embodiment, the source 11
0 is an interface to a desktop computer, laptop computer, fax machine, or a completely different communication system. With respect to the latter, a conventional fixed network is interfaced to various modern telecommunication networks from which incoming communications 108 may be generated. Thus, for example, the source 110 may also be a wireless network, a local loop, a paging network, or a local area network (LAN). Each of these networks includes at least one interface to a fixed network, as discussed in connection with another embodiment. Therefore, each of these network types is
In various embodiments of 00, it is operable as a source 110 of an incoming communication 108.

The switching center itself is not limited to typical PSTN or ISDN type network switching centers. For example, the telecommunications advertising means 100 may be integrated into a wireless system or the internet. In these illustrative examples, destination 112
The method of identifying and connecting the source 110 to it is different, but the basic approach is similar. In embodiments requiring the Internet, the telecommunications advertising means 100 may be included in one or more routers used to route traffic through the Internet. In this case, the Internet address or domain name is used instead of the digits of the dialed telephone number to identify the source 110 and the destination 112. Therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the incoming communication 108 is not limited to voice communication and may include data communication. Indeed, depending on the embodiment, the incoming communication 108 may be video communication, paging communication, email communication, or any combination of the above. Besides the type of advertisement that may be sent, the type of communication does not affect the functionality of the telecommunications advertising means 100.

In addition to connecting the source 110 to the destination 112, the router 106 routes the advertisements associated with the source 110 to the source 110 and the destination 11
Route the advertisement associated with 2 to the destination 112. Since the user is captive (captured), the user has to listen to and watch the message. In this way, it can be guaranteed that the advertising message will reach its intended goal.

[0018] Referring to FIG. 2, depending on the desired implementation, the point in time the message is associated and is sent by the router towards the source 110, the destination 112, or both. There are several points in time. For example, referring to step 204, the advertisement may be associated with the incoming communication 108 and sent to the source 110 shortly before the dial tone is rung. Alternatively, the message can actually replace the dial tone. This is possible because the dial tone is an alert to inform the user about the fact that the user is connected to the network and may dial a number. Thus, this embodiment uses advertisements to alert users about network connections. Once the advertisement has finished playing, the user dials the desired number.

In an alternative embodiment, a short advertisement replaces the ringing signal in step 218. Typically, ringing signals consist of short rings every few seconds. Therefore, in this embodiment, a short advertisement is played instead of the ring. In another embodiment, a short advertisement is played to the calling party when the called party's telephone goes off-hook in step 220. Playing a short ad informs the caller that the called party has answered and that the caller may start talking after the ad has been played.

The advertisement may be associated with the called party (destination 112). In this example, advertisements are routed to the called party when the called party's telephone goes off-hook. The caller preferably continues to receive the ringing signal or an alternate advertisement until the advertisement is terminated on the called party side, at which point the conversation can begin. Alternatively, when the called party's line goes off-hook, a short advertisement may be played on both sides, in which case the conversation can begin after the advertisement is complete. Ideally, the ad lasts the same amount of time to avoid being cut off by one of the parties.

In additional variants, the embodiments described above may be combined further. For example, an advertisement instead of a beep may be combined with a short advertisement instead of a ringing signal, which is played to one or both of the parties when the called party's telephone goes off-hook. May be further combined with. In a slightly different embodiment, after the caller dials a number on behalf of a ringing signal or alternative advertisement,
Continuous advertisements may be played to the caller. When the called party's phone goes off-hook, the advertisement may stop and then the conversation may begin. This continuous advertisement may be combined with the advertisement played before or instead of the dial tone. In addition, it may be combined with advertisements that are played to the called party when the called party picks up the handset. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the discussed embodiments can be combined in various ways to transmit various different messages of different lengths to each party at different times during call processing. You will understand. In this regard, the calling party may receive the same advertisement or advertisements as the called party, or the advertisements may be different. However, it can be guaranteed that each party hears or views one or more advertisements, just as each party hears a dial tone or ringing signal. This is because the parties need to pay attention to the particular time that such advertisement is being played in order to establish the call.

To ensure that the advertisement is well targeted to a particular called or calling party, the processing means 104 preferably populates the advertisement database 102 based on information about the parties. Associate multiple stored ads. As mentioned above, the advertisements stored in the advertisement database 102 may be subscriber-specific advertisements or third-party advertisements. In a particularly preferred embodiment, particular advertisements are associated based on particular subscribers. For example, a given subscriber may desire a particular message to be played for any outgoing call, incoming call, or both. This type of embodiment would be particularly advantageous for business subscribers. Illustratively, business subscribers may wish to route certain short messages, such as company names or business-related jingles (commercial), back to the originator of each incoming call. Alternatively, a business may need one or more specific messages that are played back each time an outgoing call or an inter-office call is made on one of the business lines. is there. This concept allows third party advertisers to target specific users or groups of users to specific advertising messages.
It can be extended. For example, a particular advertiser may pay the telecommunications provider to play an advertising message to each party calling in the telecommunications provider's network.

Money collected from a plurality of advertisers or business subscribers playing the advertising message of the advertiser or business subscriber is preferably for each legitimate subscriber to the telecommunications network. And is used to offset the cost of services. Instead, system 100 is set up so that money collected from advertisers and businesses is used to offset the cost of subscribers who agree to receive the advertising message as part of the call processing. May be.

The embodiments described thus far have not included highly targeted advertising. However, the means 100 may be used to facilitate highly targeted advertising. For example, a given advertiser may wish to limit the playback of his advertisements to subscribers within a given geographic area. Further, the advertiser may have advertising messages in multiple languages, and thus would like to play different messages depending on the targeted subscriber's first language. These types of embodiments program the processing means 104 to selectively associate advertisements stored in the advertisement database 102 with calling and / or called parties based on predetermined criteria. This can be achieved by One example of selective association has been discussed above, that is, playing a message specific to a given business to the calling party on the business. In addition to language and geography, other exemplary criteria that can be used to increase the selectivity of the played advertising message are the originator 110 of the incoming communication 108.
And the type of communication 108 that is received and the time of day of communication 108 during the day,
The destination 112 of the incoming communication 108. A wide range of factors for the source 110 and destination 112, including, for example, area code, account type, average monthly phone charges, frequently called phone numbers, addresses, current location of the calling or called party, etc. Can be used.

The information associated with the originator 110 of the incoming communication 108, such as the corresponding number, preferably indicates whether the originator 110 is calling within the same station or between stations. Alternatively, it is used to determine if the call is on a different type of network, such as a cellular network, a LAN, a local loop or a paging network. The third party's advertisement then receives the incoming communication 108 based on the source and in a manner that increases the selectivity of the advertisement to generate better revenue for the cost ($) of the advertisement spent. Can be associated with. Similarly, the type of communication can play a useful role in increasing the selectivity of advertisements. As mentioned above, the type of communication is not limited to telephone calls and can include data communication, video communication, paging communication, email, voice / audio communication, or any combination. Therefore, a more selective approach can be used to associate a particular advertisement from a particular advertiser with a particular communication by considering the origin and type of the communication. Similar information about the destination of the incoming communication 108 can also be advantageously integrated into the message association process. In another embodiment, personal data along with information related to preferences for products and services is collected for each subscriber and used to perform even more highly targeted associations. It should be noted that these criteria used in the association process apply to both advertisements sent to the originator 110 of the incoming communication 108 and to the destination 112 of the incoming communication 108. is there.

Of course, the basic principles are the same for embodiments, including those that differ from conventional fixed telecommunications network embodiments. For example, a network that relies entirely or in part on wireless communication lines would still operate in the same manner. In the case of the Internet, selectivity can be even more beneficial as the Internet hosts multiple communication methods and devices to bring them together. Therefore, there is a wider range of selection criteria that can be used to associate advertisements with communications. In addition, advertisements can be in various formats. For example, the ad may be an audio ad, which, depending on the desired implementation,
It may be a jingle, a text message, a video message, a graphic message, or a combination of these messages. Thus, in embodiments involving the Internet, where computers with multimedia capabilities are typically used to access the network, each of these message types is applicable. However, video conferencing is possible even in conventional telecommunications networks, where text, video or graphic advertising is used. New digital technologies for fixed networks, such as ISDN, also enable embodiments involving various types of advertisements. The benefits of certain types of advertising messages associated with certain types of networks are more fully discussed in connection with the alternative embodiments discussed below.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the originator 110 of the incoming communication 108 is actually
Different types of networks like cellular networks, paging networks, local loops or LANs. In an alternative embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 3, the telecommunications advertising means 100 is included in one of these different source networks.

A general situation is shown in FIG. According to FIG. 3, one of these source networks 300 generally comprises a switching center 312 interfaced to a plurality of user terminals 302. The switching center 312 is typically included within the network subsystem 304, and the network subsystem 3
04 also includes a plurality of administration means 316.
The switching center 312 handles the exchange of communications between the terminals 302 and the exchange of communications between the terminals 302 and fixed network users. The switching center 312 is interfaced to a plurality of fixed network users via a fixed network interface 314. The fixed network may be, for example, a fixed telecommunication network such as PSTN or ISDN. The management means 316 includes management information of all terminals 302. The management information is used by the switching center 3 to control communication within the network 300.
Used by 12.

The network subsystem 304 includes the advertisement database 102 and the processing means 10.
4 and are further provided. As with the previous embodiments, the ad database 102 stores a plurality of ads that are played to the user of terminal 302 at the appropriate time based on the appropriate criteria. The processing means 104 associates at least one advertisement from the advertisement database 102 with each communication in the network 300. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the functions of router 106 in the previous embodiment are performed by switching center 312. Therefore, the switching center 312, the advertisement database 102 and the processing means 104 are similar to those shown in FIG.
00 is formed.

In the network 300, an incoming communication includes a source, a destination, a communication type, 1
Analyzed to determine the time of day, etc., and the processing means 104 then selectively associates at least one advertisement with the origin and / or destination of the communication based on the determined information. One or more advertisements are specific to a particular subscriber or third party advertisement. For example, when communication between terminals is initiated, the processing means 104 may associate the advertisement with the originator and route it back to the originator terminal 302. Additionally, advertisements from the advertisement database 102 may be associated with and routed to the destination terminal 302. The advertisement may be the same for both the source and the destination, or it may be different depending on the embodiment. When a communication is initiated by a fixed network user, this may result in an advertisement associated with either the source and / or the destination being different from the advertisement in a terminal-to-terminal situation. There is something to do.

Special considerations may arise when communication is established between terminal 302 and a fixed network user. This is because the fixed network may include the telecommunication advertising means 100. Therefore, the processing means 104 determines which advertising means 1 associates one or more advertisements with the communication.
It must be possible to determine if it is 00. What is considered in the specific examples in the following discussion is a further development of the embodiment shown in FIG.

First, FIG. 4 shows a cellular network 400. In this example, terminal 302 includes a wireless mobile station (MS) 406. Cellular network 400
Further comprises a base station subsystem 402 and a network subsystem 4040. A plurality of MSs 406 communicate with the base station subsystem 402 via a Um interface, which is also known as an air interface or radio link. The base station subsystem 402 includes a plurality of base station controllers (BSC) 410 and a plurality of base station transceiver stations (BTS).
408 is included. Each BTS 408 defines a cell and a plurality of MTSs in the cell.
A wireless transceiver that handles a wireless link with S406 is housed. Each BSC 410 manages radio resources, such as channel setup and channel handoff, associated with one or more BTSs 408. Each BTS 408 communicates with the BSC 410 via a standard (Abis) interface.

The network subsystem 404 includes a mobile switching center (MSC) 412 and also includes a plurality of management registers 416 and an advertisement database 418. The network subsystem 404, of which the MSC 412 is the main part, performs call exchanges between mobile users and between mobile users and fixed network users. The MSC 412 acts like a regular switching node in a fixed network, but additionally has registration, authentication and location.
It provides the functions needed to handle mobile subscribers, such as update, handoff, and call routing. The MSC 412 also provides a connection to a fixed network via the network's interface 414.
In the illustrated example, the MSC 412 also performs the function of selectively associating advertisements in the advertisement database 418 with communications within the network 400.
In alternative embodiments, separate processing means may be used to perform this function. The management register 416 contains all the management information about each subscriber registered in the network 400, as well as the current location of each MS 406. It should be noted that some or all of registers 416 may be implemented as part of MSC 412. Alternatively, each register 416 and MSC 412 may be implemented as a separate device. Management register 416, along with MSC 412, provides call routing and roaming capabilities.

When an MS 406 calls another MS 406, the call is routed through the MSC 412. Unlike fixed network embodiments,
The caller who originates the call typically does not receive a dial tone that represents a connection to the network. The caller dials the desired number and then puts the MS 406 on their ears. Based on the dialed number, the MSC 412 determines that the call is destined for another MS.
406. When the called party is using their MS 406 or when the called party's MS 406 is turned off, a busy tone or a message indicating unavailability to the called party Routed back to the person. On the other hand, when the called party's MS 406 is on and not in use, a ring signal is applied to the called party's MS 406 and a ringing signal is sent to the calling party's MS.
406 is applied. When the called party answers, the ring and ring signals are stopped and the conversation can begin.

Since there is typically no dial tone, it is not possible to play an advertisement from the ad database 418 prior to or instead of the dial tone. However, one or more ads from the ad database 418 may, depending on the embodiment,
Replaced by multiple rings in the ringing signal, played between rings of the ringing signal, or completely replaced with the ringing signal, i.e., completely different from conventional ringing signals, the called party calls It is possible for a long advertisement or a series of short advertisements to be played to the caller until In the preferred embodiment, once the called party answers the phone, one or both of the parties may be played an advertisement before the conversation may begin. In addition, embodiments may combine message playback at these various points during a call in a number of different ways.

The MSC 412, or standalone processing means, if the embodiment includes it, may include an advertisement database 418, for example, based on information related to the caller or the originator and / or destination of the call. Selectively associate multiple ads in. As in the fixed network example, advertisements are selectively associated based on time of day, geographic location, first language, or identity of a particular calling or called party. May be. In one example, the associated message comprises billing information for one or both of the parties. For example, the balance and minutes of the party remaining for one month may be replayed for that party. In another example, a particular party or subscriber may specify by conditions one or more messages to be played under certain circumstances. For example, a business may pay for playing a company jingle for any caller using MS 406 to call the company. In yet another embodiment, the network advertises a new invitation plan or a special promotional advertisement is played. In a particularly preferred embodiment, third party advertisers may pay for playing advertisements related to their products and services during a call. Money generated from this type of advertising is
It may also be used to help the cost of products and services for subscribers to.

Unlike the example of a fixed network, where the terminals are semi-permanently wired to the central office, mobile users can roam domestically and even roam across borders. You can Therefore, the subscriber telephone number associated with a particular MS 406 typically includes a country code and an identification of the associated home network 400. When a subscriber of a fixed network makes a call to a mobile user, the switching center of the fixed network interfaces with one or several MSCs 412 to connect the call. As a result, the steps are very similar to those shown in Figure 2, except that multiple switching centers from multiple networks are involved. The situation becomes even more complicated when a mobile user in one cellular network 502 calls a user in a second cellular network 504, as shown in FIG. In this case, there may be multiple network switches from three different networks, each having its own telecommunications advertising means 100. To address potential conflicts, each switch 412 and 500 preferably incorporates a protocol to determine whether or not to associate ads with particular users under these conditions. In the exemplary embodiment, for example, each switch 412 associates advertisements only with MS 406 (source or destination) within the same network, and fixed network 500 does not associate any advertisements with communications.

It should be noted that the MS 406 used in the cellular system presents a unique ability to deliver advertisements to subscribers. For example, one embodiment takes advantage of the fact that the ring that the called party hears is fully programmable. Therefore, in this example, the ring is replaced by an advertisement. This can be accomplished by storing potential advertisements on each MS 406. When the MSC 412 associates a particular advertisement with that of the called party's MS.
Send a command to 406 to play the ad instead of the ring. MS406
Accesses the stored advertisement and plays the appropriate one at the appropriate time. The ability to program the MS 406 over the air to periodically update which advertisements are stored in the MS 406 may also be utilized in this example.

Another unique method of communicating messages to mobile users that can be used in this embodiment takes advantage of the fact that multiple MSs 406 are equipped with display devices. Therefore, this embodiment is also intended for the use of graphic or textual advertisements displayed on the user's display device. For example, a company may mark each MS40 with its trademark whenever there is an incoming call, or whenever the user presses send to make a call, or a combination thereof.
You can pay for displaying it on the screen of 6 for a short time. The use of graphic or textual advertisements is also incorporated into embodiments including the second exemplary type of network 300 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 illustrates a paging device 604, paging sites 610,
And a paging network 600 with a control point 602. At the heart of the control point 602 is a paging exchange center 606, which connects the paging network 600 to a local telephone company via a fixed network interface 612. The fixed network interface 612 is typically the connection of some telephone lines, which is the dial-in (dire
ct inward) dial line, T1 line, or network connection. These different types of connections are mixed together to optimize the system and keep overhead costs. The paging exchange center 606 outputs paging and control data to the paging site 610 to successfully implement paging operations. Paging exchange center 606 and paging site 610
The link between and is either a wireless link or a fixed line connection. The paging site 610 sends paging information to all paging devices 604 in the area. Instead, paging site 610 and paging exchange center 60
The link with 6 may be implemented as a satellite link system. In addition, control point 602 includes an ad database 608, and when paging network 600 includes voicemail capabilities, control point 602 optionally includes storage 614. In certain embodiments, stand-alone processing means are included to selectively associate advertisements stored in database 608 with communications within network 600. However, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the paging exchange center 606 performs the function of selectively associating advertisements.

FIG. 7 shows the processing required to establish paging. First, in step 702, a person dials the number corresponding to a paging device 602. Then, in step 704, the local telephone company switching center determines that the number dialed corresponds to paging device 602. At step 706, the telephone company switching center routes paging to the paging switching center 606. In step 708, the paging exchange center 606 encodes and processes the paging and outputs the paging information to the paging site 610. Then, in step 710, the paging site 610 sends the paging to the user. Conventionally, the paging network 600 performs one-way paging, and conventionally, the paging terminal uses a vibration or an audible beep sound indicating that paging has arrived, and does not use an incoming call indicator (ring indicator). Paging exchange center 606 preferably selectively associates each incoming paging received via interface 612 with a graphic or textual advertisement stored in database 608. Thus, for example, as in the previous embodiments, a company may pay for having its trademark displayed on the paging device 602 each time a paging is received.

However, bi-directional paging, pagers with programmable incoming call indicators, and pagers equipped with voice and audio capabilities are capable of implementing telecommunications advertising means 100 within paging network 600. The method extends to many of the various examples described above in connection with the previous embodiments. For example, in pagers with voice-audio capabilities or voicemail, audible advertisements such as jingles or slogans may be selectively added by the switching center 606 at the beginning of paging for each voice received. It is possible to

Other embodiments of network 300 include local loops, wireless local loops,
Or, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to include other network systems such as LANs. Further, the types of communication that occur include telephone and paging, as well as video and text communication, depending on the implementation of the system. Each of the discussed embodiments may also incorporate means for obtaining additional information about the advertised product or service during the communication. For example, a calling or called party in a telephone network, a cellular network, or a paging network,
It may remain after the communication transaction is over and receive an option or menu that allows the party to choose to receive more information about a particular product or service. In certain other embodiments, the user may actually
You can choose to be directly connected to the company offering the product or service.

A method of telecommunications advertising including the steps shown in FIG. 8 is also provided. First, in step 802, a plurality of advertisements to be associated with communications within the telecommunications network are stored. In the preferred embodiment, information associated with users in the network is also stored, as illustrated by optional step 810. Depending on the details of the implementation, this user information may include some or all of the following information: user's first language, user's preferences, user's communication provider, user's means of communication. , The user's communication plan, and the user's geographical location. User's communication means means a device used by the user when communicating via a telecommunication network. The device is, for example, a telephone, a cellular telephone (
cellphone), PDA, or system dependent computer. Most of the user information is known when the user agrees to a particular communication service or when making a contract (signing up). However, the user's preferences may be obtained, for example, through the use of the user's questionnaire or fact sheet. For example, when a user agrees to a contract for a service, they preferably prefer personal information such as age, salary, marital status, number of children, etc. and how much money the user spends on a given item. , The user typically is required to provide purchase preferences, such as what type of item to purchase, what type of item the user wants to receive information about, and so on. All information associated with the user is then preferably stored and used in the next step.

At step 804, one or more advertisements are associated with the originator of a communication in the telecommunications network. For example, advertisements may be associated simply based on the identity of the originator as determined by the number or address associated with the originator. However, preferably, the identities are combined with user information to selectively associate highly targeted advertisements, such as advertisements for particular products, with the originator.

In another embodiment, advertising targeting may also be based on the location of one or both of the parties. For example, in a fixed telecommunications network, location information may be determined based on the area code associated with the called and calling parties. More specific location information, such as street address, can be provided by the user as discussed above. In wireless communication systems such as the cellular system described in FIG. 4, known position determining devices and methods can be used to position each party. For example, in some wireless communication systems, multiple BTSs 40 are used to determine the location of one MS 406.
Triangulation with 8 can be used. Instead, the MS406 uses GPS
A position determining device such as a receiver may be included. In this case, the communication is MS406.
The coordinates from the GPS receiver are communicated from the MS 406 to the telecommunications advertising means 100 whenever an incoming call is made to or an outgoing call from the MS 406. The location information can then be used, for example, to provide targeted advertisements for stores or events in the user's neighborhood.

At step 806, the advertisement is played to the user associated with the originator of the communication. Preferably, the advertisement is also associated with the communication destination. This step is illustrated as optional step 812. If the user associated with the destination is also a subscriber to the telecommunications network, the user information is also preferably used to associate the advertisement with the destination. If the user is not a subscriber, the identity of the destination user is typically the primary factor used in associating one or more advertisements. However, in some embodiments, including wireless communication systems, the location of the destination user is also used to associate advertisements with the destination. Then optional step 8
At 14, the advertisement is played to the user associated with the destination. At step 808, a communication transaction is established between the two parties after one or more advertisements have been played for the source and destination. For example, the transaction may be a telephone call or email. After the advertisement is played, the call or email is communicated to the other party. In the email example, one or more advertisements may be attached or embedded in the email itself.

It is intended that users of networks including telecommunications advertising means 100 will be billed at a lower rate for communications services due to the fact that communications include advertisements. Further, as illustrated by step 816, depending on the embodiment, one or both users may remain online and may further pertain to one or more of the advertisements played during the communication transaction. You may choose to receive the information. In certain preferred embodiments of the method, the user may choose to be directly connected to the company whose product or service is being advertised (step 818). In this case, the telecommunication network uses the telecommunication means used by the user to connect the user to the company via the telecommunication network.

In an alternative embodiment, the user is given the option of receiving more information before connecting between the source and the destination. For example, after the advertisement has been played to the user associated with the originator, the user is given the option to receive more information related to the advertised product or service. Depending on the embodiment, the user chooses to receive the information immediately or wait until after the communication transaction. Other example embodiments also provide similar options to the destination user. In an alternative embodiment, one or both users are given the option to receive more information at various points in the communication transaction.

Once the user is connected to the company, the user may wish to purchase one or more items advertised to the user during a previous communication transaction. Therefore, in step 820, after the user is connected to the company, the user is presented with the option to purchase at least one item.
Then, in step 822, the user performs a selection and purchases one or more items.

For example, a user may wish to connect to a service of advertisements played to the user during the communication initiated by the user. The user can choose to connect to the originator of the advertisement in several ways. One way is for the user to hear the advertisement and then immediately be connected to the originator. 1
In one embodiment, the user presses a fixed key such as the star (*) or pound (#) key on his telecommunications means to connect to the source of the advertisement. In a cellular network, the MS 406 may also have a special private key to connect to the originator of the advertisement. Alternatively, some embodiments of cellular networks may use softkeys or voice commands to connect to the originator of the advertisement.

Thus, when a user views or listens to an advertisement, the user presses the appropriate key or gives the appropriate voice command and he is connected to the originator of the advertisement. It should be noted that the communication initiated by the user may be terminated if the user chooses to connect to the originator of the advertisement in this way. For example, in a fixed telecommunications network or cellular network, if the user was making a voice call to another party, the call is terminated and the user is connected to the source of the advertisement. On the other hand, if the called party chose to be connected, the calling party is simply given a busy tone and the called party is connected to the source of the advertisement. In this case, the busy tone may be replaced by one or more advertisements. The advertisement may be accompanied by a message informing the calling party that the called party is not available. Alternatively, the user may perform his selection when he hears an advertisement he is interested in, but he is not connected until after communication is established in step 808.

A second way for the user to connect to the originator of the advertisement is for the user to wait until communication is established at step 808. One way to achieve this is for ads to be automatically replayed to the user after communication is established. When a user sees or hears an advertisement he is interested in, he
The originator can then be contacted in the same way as discussed above. The second way is to store a list of advertisements played during the communication. The list can then be accessed by the user, who can select the source to be connected to. The list is, for example, in the telecommunications advertising means 100,
Alternatively, it may be stored in the user's telecommunication means. In embodiments with a fixed telecommunications network or cellular network, the list can be presented as an audible list through the user's terminal. The user can listen to the list and then make selections using keys or voice commands on the telecommunication means. Further, in some embodiments, the user can use keys or voice commands to navigate through the list or play the list. The user may even choose to be provided with more information or sources of similar advertisements. Alternatively, the list can be presented as a list of texts. This type of embodiment is typically a terminal,
That is, cellular telephones, pagers, PDAs, etc. are used in connection with cellular or paging networks equipped with displays for displaying lists. In this case, the user navigates through the list using the keys on the device to access more information, see the sources of similar ads, and ultimately to the source of ads for their choice. Can be connected.

A third method for a user to connect to the originator of an advertisement after the communication is established is for the user to provide more information related to the advertisement played during the communication at the end of the communication transaction. To inform them that they want to hear. For example, in one embodiment, after establishing communication, the user may press a particular key to signal that they want to receive more information. This key can be a dedicated key or a soft key, or in certain embodiments can be a voice command as discussed above. Informing the user that he / she wants to receive more information if there is only one ad played will, depending on the embodiment, connect the user to the originator of the ad. be able to. Alternatively, the information may be provided to the user via telecommunication means and the user has to indicate his desire to be connected to the originator. This can again be achieved, for example, using dedicated keys, softkeys or voice commands. If there are multiple advertisements, the information is played back to the user and the user can tell which source he wants to be connected.

Once the user is connected to the originator of the advertisement, he receives more information and / or the option to purchase one or more products or services. be able to. For example, if the advertisement played to the user is for a particular product or service, the user may choose to be connected to the originator of the advertisement, and then the user may be notified of that product or service. You will be offered the option to purchase. Alternatively, he may be provided with a list of products or services once the user is connected. Again, the list can be audible or textual, and the user can use keys or voice commands to navigate through the list, get more information, and purchase products or services. Selection can be performed.

If the telecommunications advertising means 100 is included in a system connected to the Internet, the user is simply connected to the originating website of the advertisement. Once connected, the user can browse through the site and make selections. For example, if the communication is an email received by a user, telecommunications advertising means 100 may insert an advertisement containing a "link" to the advertiser's website into the email. Good. The user simply clicks on the link
Click to connect to the website.

Once the user has selected a product or service for purchase, the user typically needs to provide billing information. In one embodiment, the user
The charge account information (charge account inf
ormation) can be entered. In another embodiment, the user can verbally enter information. Charge account information can be credit card numbers, debit card numbers, or some other financial accounting information (financial acco
unt information) and may include location information for billing (or billing) purposes. Alternatively, the charge account information may be stored in the telecommunications advertising means 100 or the user's telecommunications means. In either case, the user may choose to provide the charge account information simply by pressing the appropriate key or by providing the appropriate voice command. In another embodiment, the charge account information is automatically provided by the telecommunications advertising means 100 when the user makes his purchase.

It should be noted that sending account information raises concerns regarding the security of the information. To mitigate these concerns, third party inspection and / or security services may be used to improve the security associated with the account information. For example, public key cryptography can be used to ensure that the transaction is a secure transaction. The encryption method uses a mathematical algorithm to encrypt and decrypt the data. This algorithm is personalized to a particular person, application or service via a "key". Public key cryptography refers to certain types of algorithms and certain methods of personalization. One example of a public key cryptography approach is public key infrastructure (PKI). This approach uses a known and widely distributed public key to encrypt and decrypt messages, and a different private key known only to the person, application or service that owns the key. PKI is an R entitled "Understanding Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)" available at http://www.rsa.com.
It is described in the RSA Security white paper and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

An alternative way to ensure a secure transaction involving the user's account information is for the network operator to track purchases made by the user and perform regular billing (or billing) performed by the network operator. To collect payments for purchases. The network operator then transfers the paid amount to the originator of the advertisement, after deducting a small fee as the most likely way.

Wireless Internet access provides an alternative method for connecting to an advertising source. FIG. 10 shows a wireless communication system 1000 that provides wireless Internet access. System 1000 comprises most of the same components as shown and described in connection with network 400 of FIG. System 1000, like system 400, includes BSS 402 and NSS 404. As with network 400, this portion of system 1000 carries circuit-switched communications. Although primarily circuit-switched communications are voice communications, system 1000 can likewise be used for circuit-switched data communications. The circuit switched communication is carried out via the circuit switched carrier 1002.

In system 1000, terminal 1004 also includes packet data carrier 1
It is configured to send and receive packet data via 006. Packet data refers to the manner in which the data is divided into packets as defined by the Internet Protocol (IP). The internet protocol is a protocol used to enable a plurality of terminals connected to the internet to communicate with each other. The data flowing in the Internet 1010 or the data flowing from the Internet 1010 is the packet data server 100.
It is connected to the BSC 410 via an interface. When the terminal 1004 starts packet data communication, the terminal 1004 needs to capture the packet data carrier 1006 first. Similarly, if terminal 1004 is to receive packet data communications, it must first seize packet data carrier 1006 to receive packet data communications.

For example, when the terminal 1004 is “camped on” or in communication via the carrier 1002 which is circuit switched, the packet data server 1008
Indicates that there is packet data communication incoming to the terminal 1004, and the terminal 1
A message requesting that 004 receive the packet data communication can be transmitted to the terminal 1004. Instead, the packet data server 10
08 indicates to the MSC 4 that there is packet data communication arriving at the terminal 1004.
12 may be notified, in which case the MSC 412 may send the request to the terminal 1004. If the terminal 1004 accepts the request, it needs to terminate the circuit switched communication and switch to the packet data carrier 1006. Once terminal 1004 seizes packet data carrier 1006, it can receive packet data communications.

An alternative method of receiving packet data communication is for the terminal 1004 to use the system 100.
0, then camp on packet data carrier 1006. For example, the terminal 1004 may be equipped with special keys or soft keys. When the user presses the key, the terminal 1004 seizes the packet data carrier 1006 and authenticates itself to the packet data server 1008,
Next, the packet data carrier 1006 is camped on. Then the user
The information can be “pulled” from the Internet, or the information can be “pushed” on the packet data server 1008 and transmitted to the terminal 1004. In another embodiment, the terminal 1004 can automatically authenticate itself to the packet data server 1008 and camp on the carrier 1006 without requiring user input or special keys.

Typically, terminal 1004 needs to register with a packet data server 1008 in a system, such as system 1000, before terminal 1004 can send packet data. Therefore, the terminal 1004 transmits the packet communication registration request, and the packet communication registration request is transmitted by the packet data server 100.
8 received. The packet data server 1008 accesses the user information from the MSC 412 to authenticate the terminal 1004, and also notifies the MSC 412 that the terminal 1004 is communicating in packet data communication. When the terminal 1004 is authenticated, the packet data server 1008 starts packet transmission / reception by transmitting a packet communication registration response to the terminal 1004.

The packet data server 1008 can be implemented in various ways. For example,
The packet data server 1008 can be an I-mode server or a public switched packet data network (PSPDN). Alternatively, the packet data server 1008 may be a WAP server. WAP
The server actually communicates with the terminal 1004 via a carrier that is circuit-switched and also communicates with the Internet 1010 using IP. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that this difference does not affect the manner in which the invention operates, other than the particular communication protocol used. Therefore, the terms packet data carrier, packet data communication, and packet data server are used herein to ultimately refer to any carrier, communication, or server used to send and receive packets between terminal 1004 and the Internet 1010. Is intended to indicate.

In system 1000, telecommunications advertising means 100 may send advertisements to sources and destinations of communications in circuit-switched portions of system 1000 in a manner similar to that described above. Similarly, terminal 1004 can be connected to an advertising source according to the discussed method. Alternatively, however, the terminal 1004 can be used to connect to the advertising source via the packet server 1008. For example, when the user chooses to connect to the source of the ad, either after the ad has been played, or after selecting the ad from a list of what was played to the user during a previous communication , Terminal 1004 can establish packet data communication and connect the user via the server 1008 to the website associated with the originator of the advertisement. The user can then browse the website and order products and services in a manner similar to that discussed in connection with the Internet example above. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the amount of information that can be transmitted and the browsing capabilities of mobile devices such as terminal 1004 are limited in relation to conventional methods of accessing the Internet. .

In embodiments where the terminal 1004 camps on the packet data carrier 1006, the telecommunication advertising means 100 may be included in the packet data server 1008. In this case, the telecommunication advertising means 100 associates the advertisement with the source and / or the destination of the packet data communication initiated or received by the terminal 1004. Therefore, if an email message is sent to the terminal 1004 via the packet data server 1008, the telecommunications advertising means 100 in the server 1008 associates the advertisement with the email and places the advertisement in the email. Can be inserted. The advertisement may include a link to the website from which the advertisement originated. Then, the user uses the terminal 1004 to send the packet data server 10
You can connect to the website via 08, and once connected,
You can browse and / or purchase products or services.

It should also be pointed out that the broadband technology increases the amount of information that can be transmitted to the terminal 1004 via the packet data server 1008 and further improves the browsing ability of the terminal 1004. is there. In fact, broadband capabilities are
000 circuit-switched and packet-switched parts. Therefore, carrier differences will be less important in future embodiments. As technology evolves, the present invention will work just as well in the resulting new wireless communication system.

A wireless terminal, such as terminal 1004, is typically capable of storing a list of telephone numbers. In one embodiment, advertisements received on terminal 1004 may be forwarded to all or some of the stored phone numbers. In the exemplary embodiment, the number to which the advertisement is transferred needs to belong to the same wireless communication system 1000 as terminal 1004. Therefore, when the terminal to which the advertisement has been transferred next registers with the system 1000, it receives the transferred advertisement. Depending on the terminal and the type of advertisement, the terminal receives the forwarded advertisement when it registers with the MSC 412 or when it accesses the packet data server 1008.

As shown in FIG. 9, a method for updating a user's preferences associated with a telecommunication advertising means is also provided, said method comprising the following steps. First, in step 902, the user accesses a record containing the user's preferences. 1
In one exemplary embodiment, the record is part of a larger database that contains records containing user information for users in the telecommunications network. The information can include charge account information for use in purchasing products and services, as discussed above. In one exemplary embodiment, a user accesses the record via the internet. Note that access may be accomplished using terminal 1004 or using more conventional means such as a desktop or laptop computer. In this example, the user may, for example, go to a website where they may choose to access their user preference information. In an exemplary embodiment, the user needs to supply some sort of password to achieve access to the information. PKI can also be used to ensure secure access to information.

Once the user has achieved access, the user has the option to change the preferences and user information contained in the record. This step is indicated as step 904 in FIG. Then, in step 906, the user modifies the information they wish to modify. For example, in an internet-based embodiment, a user may access a screen or window, or a series of screens or windows from which they may modify or select new information for recording. You can Depending on the embodiment, the user's preferences are related to age, salary, marital status, number of children, etc., how much money the user spends on a given item, and what type of item the user spends. It is typically related to shopping preferences such as purchases, what type of items the user wants to receive information about, and the like.

At step 908, the new information is automatically updated and stored in the record,
It is automatically updated and stored in the database. In additional exemplary embodiments, the records are accessed via a telephone or mobile device such as MS 406 or terminal 1004. The user again uses, for example, a password or public key to access the information, and then the user is provided with a menu option to select new or updated information.

After the new information is updated and stored at step 908, the updated record is used at step 910 to automatically update the association of the advertisement to be played to the user. For example, telecommunication advertising means are part of a telecommunication network. When a user initiates or receives a communication within the network,
User information is used to associate advertisements to be played to the user before, during, or after communication. In step 910, the updated user information indicates which advertisement is associated with the user and played to the user.
Update automatically.

While various embodiments of the invention have been presented, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. Many other embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, a telecommunications network system has been described. However, telecommunications technology is constantly evolving, resulting in new systems and means for communication. The present invention anticipates that technology will change, but the basic invention is
It will continue to be applied to newly developed systems.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing telecommunications advertising means according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram illustrating operation of a fixed line telecommunications network.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a telecommunication system including telecommunication advertising means according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a cellular telecommunication system including the telecommunication advertising means of FIG. 1 according to another embodiment of the invention.

5 shows a plurality of cellular telecommunication systems interfaced with a fixed network switch, each cellular telecommunication system according to the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. It is a figure containing a means.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a paging network system including the telecommunication advertising means of FIG. 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram showing a process for communicating a paging message.

FIG. 8 is a processing flow chart showing a method of telecommunication advertisement according to the present invention.

9 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of updating a user profile used in connection with the telecommunications advertising means of FIG.

10 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system including the telecommunication advertising means of FIG. 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... Telecommunications advertising means, 102, 418, 608 ... Advertising database, 104 ... Processing means, 106 ... router, 108 ... incoming communication, 110 ... Originator, 112 ... Destination, 300 ... network, 302, 1004 ... terminal, 304, 404 ... Network subsystem, 312 ... Exchange center, 314, 414, 612 ... Network interface, 316 ... Management means, 400, 502, 504 ... Cellular network, 402 ... Base station subsystem, 406 ... Wireless mobile station (MS), 408 ... Base station transceiver station (BTS), 410 ... Base station controller (BSC), 412 ... Mobile Exchange Center (MSC), 416 ... Management register, 500 ... network switch, 600 ... paging network, 602 ... control point, 604 ... Paging device, 606 ... Paging exchange center, 610 ... Paging site, 614 ... Storage device, 1000 ... wireless communication system, 1002 ... Carriers that are circuit switched 1006 ... Packet data carrier, 1008 ... Packet data server, 1010 ... Internet.

[Procedure for Amendment] Submission for translation of Article 34 Amendment of Patent Cooperation Treaty

[Submission date] July 11, 2002 (2002.7.11)

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Contents of correction]

[Claims]

1. An advertisement database for storing a subscriber-specific advertisement or a third-party advertisement, and processing means connected to the advertisement database, wherein the processing means comprises at least one advertisement in the advertisement database. Selectively to the source of the incoming communication, in place of the ring tone associated with the ringing signal, in place of the ringing signal, and after the ringing signal, but the source of the incoming communication. At least one prior to being connected to the destination of the incoming communication, the telecommunications advertising means configured to play the associated advertisement to the source.

2. The processing means includes a user preference, a first language of the user associated with the incoming communication, a type of the incoming communication, and a day of the incoming communication. Selective of one or more specific advertisements to the incoming communication depending on at least one of the time of day, the destination of the incoming communication, and the geographical location of the incoming communication. The telecommunications advertising means of claim 1, further configured to be associated with.

3. The processing means includes a source of the incoming communication, a type of the destination, a type of the incoming communication, a time of a day relating to the incoming communication, and a destination of the destination. The electricity of claim 1, further configured to selectively associate one or more particular advertisements with the destination of the incoming communication depending on at least one of the geographical location. Communication advertising means.

4. The destination type comprises a wireless network, a local loop, the Internet, a paging network, a fixed area network, a fixed area network outside the area, and a local area network. The telecommunications advertising means according to claim 3, which is any one of the groups.

5. The incoming communication includes data communication, video communication, voice / audio communication, paging communication, e-mail communication, text data communication, video data communication, voice / audio communication, paging communication, 5. The telecommunications advertising means according to claim 4, wherein the telecommunications advertising means is any one of a group consisting of: and a combination of any of e-mail communications.

6. The telecommunications advertising means of claim 3, wherein the processing means is further configured to selectively associate one or more of the same advertisements with the source and the destination.

7. The one or more advertisements associated with the originator are each at least one of a subscriber-specific message, a jingle, a text advertisement, an audio advertisement, a video advertisement, and a graphic advertisement. Claim 1 with one
The described telecommunication advertising means.

8. The telecommunications advertising means of claim 1, further configured to enable billing at different rates based on the association of the one or more advertisements with the incoming communication. ..

9. receive a request for more information from the source of the communication for the call, in response to the request, the more information about one or more advertisements associated with the communications to the receiving The telecommunications advertising means of claim 8, further configured to send to the source.

10. The method further configured to connect the source with a company associated with one or more advertisements associated with the incoming communication.
The described telecommunication advertising means.

11. The advertisement received by the originating telecommunications advertising means further configured claim 1 to transfer to the destination specified by the originator.

12. The charge account information associated with the originator is stored and the charge account information is provided to a company associated with the advertisement to facilitate the purchase of a product or service by the originator. The telecommunications advertising means according to claim 10, further configured as follows.

13. The method of claim 10 further configured to allow the originator of the incoming communication to be connected to the company associated with the advertisement prior to establishing the incoming communication. Telecommunications advertising means.

14. At least a portion of the advertisement database is stored at a source of the incoming communication, and the telecommunications advertising means routes a command indicating which advertisement to play back to the source. The telecommunications advertising means according to claim 1, further configured.

15. Some of the originator of the stored the advertisement database,
15. Telecommunications announcement means according to claim 14, updated by said telecommunications advertising means via a wireless interface.

16. An advertisement database for storing a subscriber-specific advertisement or a third-party advertisement, and a processing means connected to the advertisement database, wherein the processing means comprises at least one advertisement in the advertisement database. Is selectively associated with the source of the incoming communication, the source of the incoming communication, the type of the destination, the type of incoming communication, and the day of the incoming communication Selectively associating with the destination of the incoming communication one or more of the same advertisements associated with the source depending on at least one of time of day and geographical location of the destination. , Instead of the ring tone associated with the ringing signal, instead of the ringing signal, and after the ringing signal, the originator of the incoming communication is connected to the destination of the incoming communication. At least one of the preceding, telecommunications advertising means configured to play the associated advertisement to the originator.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE, TR), OA (BF , BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, G M, KE, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ , UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, B Z, CA, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK , DM, DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, J P, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR , LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, R O, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ , TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW F term (reference) 5K015 AA10 AD02 AD05 GA04 GA07                       GA10                 5K024 AA77 BB03 BB04 BB07 CC01                       CC09 CC11 DD02 DD04 FF04                       FF06

Claims (57)

[Claims] 1. An advertisement database for storing a subscriber-specific advertisement or a third-party advertisement, and processing means connected to the advertisement database, wherein the processing means includes at least one advertisement in the advertisement database. Is selectively associated with the source of the incoming communication and at least one advertisement is selectively associated with the destination of the incoming communication. 2. further comprising a router connected to the advertisement database, the router routing the incoming communication to the destination and any message associated with the source to the source; The telecommunications advertising means of claim 1, configured to route any message associated with the destination to the destination. 3. The telecommunications advertising means according to claim 2, wherein the router comprises the processing means. 4. The telecommunications advertising means of claim 1, wherein the telecommunications advertising means is part of a fixed telecommunications network. 5. The processing means comprises user preferences, a first language of the user associated with the incoming communication, a source of the incoming communication, a type of the incoming communication, and the incoming call. One or more specific advertisements depending on at least one of the time of day regarding the communication to be made, the destination of the incoming communication, and the geographical location of the incoming communication. The telecommunications advertising means of claim 1, further configured to selectively associate with the incoming communication. 6. The source of the incoming communication is   Wireless network,   A local loop,   Internet and   A paging network,   A fixed network of regions,   A fixed network outside the region,   With the campus network The telecommunications advertising means according to claim 5, which is one of the groups consisting of: 7. The processing means comprises a source of the incoming communication, a type of the destination, a type of the incoming communication, a time of a day relating to the incoming communication, and a destination of the destination. 7. The method further configured to selectively associate one or more particular advertisements with the destination of the incoming communication, depending on at least one of the geographical location.
The described telecommunication advertising means. 8. The destination type comprises a wireless network, a local loop, the Internet, a paging network, a regional fixed network, a non-regional fixed network, and a local network. The telecommunications advertising means according to claim 7, which is any one of the groups. 9. The incoming communication includes data communication, video communication, voice / audio communication, paging communication, e-mail communication, text data communication, video data communication, voice / audio communication, paging communication, 9. The telecommunications advertising means according to claim 8, wherein the telecommunications advertising means is any one of a group consisting of: and a combination of any of e-mail communications. 10. The telecommunications advertising means of claim 1, wherein the processing means is further configured to selectively associate one or more of the same advertisements with the source and the destination. 11. The telecommunications advertising means of claim 1, wherein the processing means is further configured to selectively associate one or more different advertisements with the source and the destination. 12. One or more messages associated with the source and one or more advertisements associated with the destination include subscriber-specific messages, jingles, text advertisements, and audio. The telecommunications advertising means according to claim 1, which is one of an advertisement, a video advertisement, and a graphic advertisement. 13. An advertisement database for storing subscriber-specific advertisements or third-party advertisements, user preferences, language, communication originator, communication type, time of day, communication destination, and Receive at least one advertisement in the advertisement database and at least one advertisement in the advertisement database for incoming communications based on one or more elements selected from a group consisting of geographies. A method of associating with a destination of communication, a method of associating at least one advertisement with a source of the incoming communication, and a method of associating at least one advertisement with the source and at least one advertisement with the destination. At least one of a method of associating with the processing means configured to selectively associate. 14. A telecommunication system comprising a network subsystem, said network subsystem comprising a switching center and one or more management means connected to said switching center, The management means is configured to store management information required for each of the plurality of terminals connected / registered to the telecommunication system, and comprises telecommunication advertising means connected to the exchange center, The telecommunication advertising means comprises an advertising database and processing means connected to the advertising database, the processing means selectively associating at least one advertisement in the advertising database with an incoming communication. Telecommunications system configured as. 15. The switching center routes communication between the plurality of terminals, routes communication from the plurality of terminals to a plurality of fixed network users via a fixed network interface, Routing an advertisement associated with a source of the incoming communication to the source, the source being either one of the plurality of terminals or a fixed network user; Route advertisements associated with communication destinations to the above destinations,
15. The telecommunications system of claim 14, wherein the destination is either one of the plurality of terminals or a fixed network user. 16. The telecommunications system of claim 15, wherein said switching center comprises said processing means. 17. Communication includes data communication, video communication, voice / audio communication, paging communication, electronic mail communication, text data communication, video data communication, voice / audio communication, paging communication, and electronic mail. The telecommunication system according to claim 15, which is one of a combination of any of the communications. 18. The telecommunications system of claim 14, wherein the processing means is further configured to selectively associate one or more of the same advertisements with the source and the destination. 19. The processing means is further configured to selectively associate one or more different advertisements with the source and the destination.
The telecommunications system described. 20. The one or more advertisements associated with the source and the one or more advertisements associated with the destination include subscriber-specific messages, jingles, text advertisements, and audio. The telecommunications system of claim 14, wherein each is an advertisement, a video advertisement, or a graphic advertisement. 21. Storing a plurality of advertisements, selectively associating one or more of the plurality of advertisements with a communication, and the one or more advertisements. Is displayed to the user associated with the communication, and otherwise displayed, the communication is connected to a destination, and the one or more advertisements are displayed to the user. Establishing a transaction of said communication after being played, and otherwise displayed, if not played. 22. The method further comprises storing user information, the user information for each user, the user's first language, the user's preferences, the user's communication provider, and the user's communication plan. 22. The method of claim 21, including at least one of a user's means of communication and a user's geographical location. 23. Associating one of the plurality of advertisements with a communication includes determining a user associated with the communication and selectively selecting the message based on the user information. The method of claim 2, further comprising associating.
2. The method described in 2. 24. Selectively associating one or more of the plurality of advertisements with the destination, and the one or more advertisements associated with the destination. Playing to the user associated with the destination, otherwise displaying, and the one or more advertisements associated with the destination being provided to the user associated with the destination. 24. Establishing the transaction associated with the communication after being played or displayed to. 25. Associating one or more of the plurality of advertisements with the destination includes determining a user associated with the destination, and determining the user based on the user information. 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising selectively associating one or more advertisements. 26. The user's preferences include information related to the type of service the user is interested in or typically uses, and the type of product the user is interested in or typically uses. Relevant information and the language in which the user prefers to receive the information and personal data relevant to the user, including age, gender, financial status, consumption habits, political affiliation, marital status, brand loyalty 26. The method of claim 25, comprising at least one of 27. Based on the inclusion of the advertisement in the communication,
25. The method further comprising billing the user at different rates.
The method described. 28. A user chooses to remain online after a communication transaction has ended and receive more information related to one or more advertisements played during the communication. 28. The method of claim 27, further comprising: 29. The method of claim 28, further comprising the user selecting to be directly connected to a company associated with one of the advertisements played during the communication. 30. A method of updating a user's preferences associated with a telecommunications advertising means, the user accessing a record from a database, including the user's preference, and the user's preference in the record. Providing the user with the option to change or update any or all of the above; the user changing or updating some or all of the user's preferences; Updating and storing said record in, and automatically using the updated version of said record to associate advertisements played to said user within a telecommunications network including said telecommunications advertising means. And updating. 31. The method of claim 30, wherein the user accesses the record via telephone or the Internet. 32. The user's preferences include information related to the type of service the user is interested in or typically uses, and the type of product the user is interested in or typically uses. Relevant information and the language in which the user prefers to receive the information and personal data relevant to the user, including age, gender, financial status, consumption habits, political affiliation, marital status, brand loyalty 31. The method of claim 30, comprising at least one of. 33. A wireless interface, a plurality of terminals configured to play a plurality of advertisements and to communicate voice and data via the wireless interface, and to communicate with the plurality of terminals via the wireless interface. And at least one network node configured to provide a telecommunications advertising means comprising a fixed network interface and an advertising database and processing means connected to the advertising database. And the processing means comprises a switching center configured to selectively associate at least one advertisement in the advertising database with an incoming communication, the switching center comprising: a switching center connected to the telecommunications advertising means. Is
Route communication between the plurality of terminals, route communication from the plurality of terminals to a plurality of fixed network users via the fixed network interface, and receive the incoming call by the telecommunication advertising means. The advertisement associated with the source of the communication is routed to the terminal associated with the source, and the advertisement associated with the destination of the incoming communication by the telecommunication advertising means is transferred to the terminal associated with the destination. Wireless communication system for routing. 34. The advertisement associated with the source and / or destination of the incoming communication is used to replace the busy signal sent to the source and / or destination if not replaced. The described wireless communication system. 35. The wireless communication system of claim 33, wherein some or all of the terminals are configured to forward advertisements received by the terminal to other terminals in the wireless communication system. . 36. Some or all of the terminals are configured to optionally connect via the switching center to a source of any advertisement routed to the terminal by the switching center. The wireless communication system according to claim 33. 37. Some or all of the terminals are configured to navigate through the information provided by the advertisement source once the terminal is connected to the advertisement source. 38. The wireless communication system according to claim 36. 38. The method of claim 36, wherein some or all of the terminals are configured to facilitate the purchase of a product or service once the terminal is connected to the source of the advertisement. Wireless communication system. 39. Some or all of the terminals are configured to allow charge account information to be entered into the terminal, the terminal providing the charge account information to the originator of the advertisement. 39. The wireless communication system of claim 38, wherein the wireless communication system is provided to facilitate purchase of a product or service. 40. The telecommunications advertising means stores charge account information associated with each terminal, and the telecommunications advertising means automatically supplies the charge account information to the originator of the advertisement to obtain a product or 39. The wireless communication system of claim 38, which facilitates purchase of services. 41. The method of claim 36, further configured to allow the source and / or destination of the incoming communication to be connected to the source of the advertisement prior to establishing the incoming communication. The described wireless communication system. 42. The wireless communication system of claim 36, wherein some or all of the terminals are configured to store a list of played advertisements during establishment of an incoming communication. 43. Some or all of the terminals are configured to connect to an advertisement source selected from the list of advertisements after establishment of the incoming communication. The described wireless communication system. 44. A packet data server configured to interface the plurality of terminals to the Internet, wherein some or all of the terminals are connected via the packet data server. 37. The wireless communication system according to claim 36, configured to optionally connect to a source of any advertisement routed to the terminal. 45. The advertisement routed to the originator of the incoming communication replaces the time point preceding the ringing signal applied to the originator of the incoming communication and the ring tone associated with the ringing signal. At least one of a time point, a time point to replace the call signal, and a time point after the call signal and before the originator of the incoming communication is connected to the destination of the incoming communication. 34. The wireless communication system according to claim 33, wherein the wireless communication system is reproduced by. 46. The wireless communication system according to claim 45, wherein the advertisement routed to the destination of the incoming communication is reproduced before the source of the incoming communication is connected to the destination of the incoming communication. . 47. At least a part of the advertisement database is stored in each of the plurality of terminals, and the exchange center is provided by the telecommunications advertisement means, and the command indicating which advertisement is to be reproduced is provided. The wireless communication system according to claim 33, wherein the wireless communication system routes to a terminal. 48. The telecommunication advertisement means according to claim 47, wherein a part of the advertisement database stored in the terminal is updated by the telecommunication advertisement means via the wireless interface. 49. A packet data carrier, a plurality of terminals configured to communicate packet data via the packet data carrier, an advertisement database, and processing means connected to the advertisement database, the process comprising: Means for interfacing the plurality of terminals to the Internet with a telecommunications advertising means configured to selectively associate at least one advertisement in the advertisement database with an incoming packet data communication. , Routing communications between the plurality of terminals and the Internet via the packet data carrier, routing advertisements associated with the source of the incoming packet data communication to the source, and receiving the incoming packet data Advertisements associated with communication destinations to the above destinations A wireless communication system comprising: a packet data server configured to route. 50. Some or all of said terminals are optionally connected via said packet data server to a source of any advertisement routed to said terminal by said packet data server. 50. The wireless communication system according to claim 49, which is configured to. 51. Some or all of the terminals are configured to navigate through the information provided by the source of the advertisement once the terminal is connected to the source of the advertisement. 51. The wireless communication system according to claim 50. 52. The method of claim 51, wherein some or all of the terminals are configured to facilitate the purchase of goods and services once the terminal is connected to the source of the advertisement. Wireless communication system. 53. Some or all of the terminals are configured to allow charge account information to be entered into the terminal, the terminal using the charge account information as a source of the advertisement. 53. The wireless communication system of claim 52, wherein the wireless communication system is provided to facilitate purchase of the goods and services. 54. The telecommunications advertising means stores charge account information associated with each terminal, and the telecommunications advertising means automatically supplies the charge account information to the originator of the advertisement to sell the product and 53. The wireless communication system of claim 52, which facilitates purchase of services. 55. A method of telecommunications advertising in a wireless communication system configured for voice and / or data communication between a source and a destination, the method comprising storing a plurality of advertisements; Selectively associating one or more of the communications with communications within the wireless communications system, and prior to connecting the source to the destination for the purpose of establishing communications. Playing one or more advertisements through the terminal associated with the source or destination, and displaying otherwise, and displaying the terminal in the one or more Connecting with a company associated with one of the advertisements. 56. The method further comprising allowing the terminal to view information and / or products or services provided by the company.
The method according to 5. 57. The method according to claim 56, which enables the terminal to purchase one or more products or services offered by the company.