Methods and apparatus for providing information in response to telephonic requests
First Claim
1. A method of providing a reply to a telephone caller, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a message from a telephone caller during a telephone call;
deriving supplemental information relating to at least one of the telephone caller and the telephone call;
using the message from the caller in combination with the supplemental information to identify an appropriate reply to the message; and
providing the reply to the caller.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus provide a reply to a telephone caller in response to an abbreviated input string. A message is received from a telephone caller during a telephone call, and supplemental information is derived which relates to at least one of the telephone caller and the telephone call. Using the message from the caller in combination with the supplemental information, an appropriate reply to the message is identified, which is then provided to the caller. The invention is applicable to various telecommunications infrastructures, including cellular telephony. The message may be provided by the caller in response to a request forming part of a radio or television broadcast, in which case the message might relate to channel number or broadcast frequency, with the system storing a channel map to identify the station responsible for the broadcast, if so required. The supplemental information relating to the caller would typically include at least a portion of the telephone number of the caller, or may additionally relate to the date or the time of the telephone call. Depending upon the circumstances, the date/time of the call may form part of the message. The reply to the caller may occur during the telephone call, wherein the system might place an additional telephone call to identify the appropriate reply. Such a call may be toll-free, in which case the user may be patched-in to receive the information. Alternatively the reply may be in the form of a facsimile or electronic mail later directed to the caller.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1. A method of providing a reply to a telephone caller, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a message from a telephone caller during a telephone call;
deriving supplemental information relating to at least one of the telephone caller and the telephone call;
using the message from the caller in combination with the supplemental information to identify an appropriate reply to the message; and
providing the reply to the caller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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26. Apparatus for providing a reply to a telephone caller in response to a telephone call received over a telephone network, comprising:
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a database storing information relating to a plurality of replies, each reply being correlated to a particular response from a telephone caller; and
programmed computer means including interfaces to the database and the network, the programmed computer means being operative to perform the following functions;
a) receive a message from a caller, b) identify an appropriate reply in the database based upon the message, c) derive supplemental information relating to at least one of the telephone caller and the telephone call, and d) provide the reply to the caller using the supplemental information.
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Specification