System and Method For Message-Based Conversations

• US 20100167764A1
• Filed: 12/31/2008
• Published: 07/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sybase Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Original Assignee: Sybase Nv (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Choy, Kim Hung, Theiding, Mark Andreas, Sarmah, Dilip, Sutton, Raphael Hercules
• Granted Patent: US 8,903,434 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/234 for tracking messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

Leveraging the ubiquitous nature of wireless devices and the popularity of (Short Message Service, Multimedia Message Service, etc.) messaging, an infrastructure that supports message-based conversations (with for example the maintenance or preservation of state, context, etc. across or during the message exchanges) allowing users of wireless devices to employ their wireless devices to engage in and complete increasingly more complicated activities. The infrastructure may optionally leverage the capabilities of a centrally-located Messaging Inter-Carrier Vendor.

Claims

1. A method for message-based conversations, comprising:

generating a message containing at least one or more options, the options indicative of the current state of a message-based conversation;

sending the message to a wireless device of a mobile subscriber;

receiving from the wireless device of the mobile subscriber a reply, the reply containing at least one of the options;

performing at least one processing step on aspects of the reply, using at least in part information concerning the message-based conversation, yielding a next state of the message-based conversation; and

preserving at least the next state of the message-based conversation in a repository.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is a Short Message Service message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is a Multimedia Message Service message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the message-based conversation is implemented via a finite state machine.