Method and apparatus to allocate and recycle telephone numbers in a call-tracking system

• US 20050251445A1
• Filed: 12/15/2004
• Published: 11/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thryv, Inc. (Mudrick Capital Management LP)
• Original Assignee: UTBK, Inc.
• Inventors: Altberg, Ebbe, Faber, Scott, Halstead, Mark, Wong, Daric, Agarwal, Anuj, Ahuja, Nitin
• Granted Patent: US 7,424,442 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.690
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0192 Sponsored, subsidised calls via advertising, e.g. calling cards with ads or connecting to special ads, free calling time by purchasing goods
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42008 Systems for anonymous communication between parties, e.g. by use of disposal contact identifiers

Abstract

In one embodiment, the invention provides a method. The method includes dynamically allocating a telephone number to an advertisement on a just-in-time basis; and if the telephone number is not called for a predefined period of time then unallocating the telephone number.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

allocating a telephone number to an advertisement; and

if the telephone number is not called for a predefined period of time, unallocating the telephone number to make the telephone number available to be assigned to a second advertisement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein allocating the telephone number comprises allocating the telephone number to a second demand partner for inclusion in an associated advertisement provided by the second demand partner.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein dynamically allocating the telephone number comprises allocating the telephone number to a plurality of different advertisements.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising

if the allocated telephone number is called, identifying an advertisement of the plurality of advertisements that corresponds to the call;

assigning the telephone number to the corresponding advertisement for future calls;

unasigning the telephone number from rmonkeymaining advertisements of the plurality of advertisements.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising

if the allocated telephone number is called, identifying a demand partner of the that corresponds to the call;

assigning the telephone number to the corresponding demand partner for future calls;

unasigning the telephone number from remaining demand partners.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the identifying the demand partner that corresponds to the call comprises identifying the demand partner based on a temporal proximity between when a demand partner served the associated advertisement and when the call occurred.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a call is attributed to a demand partner if the particular demand partner is the only demand partner to have served the associated advertisement within a predefined time period before the call occurred.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein if more than one demand partner served the associated advertisement within the predefined time period, then the call is attributed the demand partners that served the associated advertisement within the predefined time period.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising compensating the demand partners, respectively, that served the associated advertisement within the predefined time period, based on a percentage of calls attributed to the respective demand partners.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising in response to a telephonic connection to the allocated telephone number, billing an advertiser for advertisement.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising billing the advertiser a first higher rate of at least two rates when an advertisement corresponding to the advertiser is displayed in a first position of at least two positions.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein each demand partner has a separate web site corresponding to the respective demand partner.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising identifying a time of the telephonic connection to the allocated telephone number and billing the advertiser at a rate corresponding to the time of the telephonic connection.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising allocating the telephone number in response to request submitted by an end user to a demand partner.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising recording a time the allocated telephone number is displayed in an advertisement.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising recording the advertisement the allocated telephone number was displayed in.

17. The method of claim of 16, further comprising recording the demand partner that served the advertisement that included the allocated telephone number.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a display queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been displayed.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising maintaining the display queue in an order relative to corresponding times of displaying respective allocated telephone numbers.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising selecting a first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising selecting a first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement and having not been displayed within a predefined period of time.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising selecting a first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement and having not been called within a predefined period of time.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a call-time queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been called.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising maintaining the call-time queue in an order relative to corresponding times respective allocated telephone numbers had been most recently called.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising selecting a first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been called.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising selecting a first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been called and having not been displayed within a predefined period of time.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a display queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been displayed, and maintaining a call-time queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been called;

selecting a first telephone number to be allocated from the display queue of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement and having not been displayed within a first predefined period of time; and

selecting a second telephone number to be allocated from the call-time queue of telephone numbers, the second telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been called and having not been displayed within a second predefined period of time.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising in response to first telephone number having been displayed with the first predefined period of time and the second telephone numbers having been called with the second predefined period of time, selecting one of the first telephone number and second telephone number to be allocated, the selecting based on a relativeness the first telephone number to the first predefined period of time and the second telephone number to the second predefined period of time.

29. The method of claim 28 further comprising notifying additional telephone numbers are needed for allocation.

30. The method of claim 1 further comprising repeating allocation of a first telephone number to a first advertisement to be served be served at least a second time by a first demand partner.

31. The method of claim 1 further comprising in response to a caller initiating a connection with a first telephone number, identifying an origin of the caller and determining if the caller had previously initiated a connection with the first telephone number, the first telephone number having been previously allocated to a first advertisement and currently reallocated to a second advertisement;

and

in response to determining the caller had previously initiated a connection with the first telephone number, establishing a connection between the caller and an advertiser associated with the first advertisement.

32. The method of claim 1 further comprising maintaining a first pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to a first demand partner, and maintaining a second pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to a second demand partner.

33. The method of claim 1 further comprising maintaining a first pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to advertisements associated with a first subject matter, and maintaining a second pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to advertisements associated with a second subject matter.

34. The method of claim 1 further comprising allocating a second telephone number to second advertiser and not permitting the second telephone number to reallocated to other advertisers.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising allocating the second telephone number to a second advertiser after a predefined period of time has elapsed.

36. A computer-readable medium, having stored thereon a sequence of instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

dynamically allocating a telephone number to an advertisement on a just-in-time basis; and

if the telephone number is not called for a predefined period of time then unallocating the telephone number.

37. A system, comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform a method comprising;

dynamically allocating a telephone number to an advertisement on a just-in-time basis; and

if the telephone number is not called for a predefined period of time then unallocating the telephone number.