Systems for capturing telephonic mass responses
First Claim
1. A method of enhancing response to a broadcast promotion, comprising in combination the steps of:
- broadcasting said promotion over an essentially one-way mass medium;
prompting recipients of that broadcast promotion to respond thereto through their telephone sets having different subscriber telephone numbers;
automatically receiving calls of recipients using their telephone sets to respond to said broadcast promotion, electronically capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets through which said calls are made, and automatically confirming to substantially all callers while on line during said calls that their calls have been received;
subsequently using the electronically captured subscriber telephone numbers to call on multitudes of the telephone sets at a time until substantially all of said calls have been returned;
electronically prompting all persons who answer the calls on said multitudes of telephone sets to complete their responses to the broadcast promotion through their telephone sets while on line; and
automatically receiving the completed responses while on line with said persons through their telephone sets.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Recipients of a promotion broadcast over an essentially one-way medium are prompted to respond thereto through their telephone sets having different subscriber telephone numbers, and the task of handling the resulting mass response is divided into a call receiving phase and a subsequent response completing phase. Such call receiving phase is shortened relative to the response completing phase by automatically receiving calls of recipients using their telephone sets to respond to the broadcast promotion, electronically capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets through which these calls are made, and automatically confirming to substantially all callers while on line during these calls that their calls have been received. The response completing phase is subsequently carried out by using the electronically captured subscriber telephone numbers to call on multitudes of the telephone sets at a time until substantially all of the calls have been returned, electronically prompting all persons who answer the calls on these multitudes of telephone sets to complete their responses to the broadcast promotion through their telephone sets while on line, and automatically receiving the completed responses while on line with these persons through their telephone sets.
98 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of enhancing response to a broadcast promotion, comprising in combination the steps of:
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broadcasting said promotion over an essentially one-way mass medium; prompting recipients of that broadcast promotion to respond thereto through their telephone sets having different subscriber telephone numbers; automatically receiving calls of recipients using their telephone sets to respond to said broadcast promotion, electronically capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets through which said calls are made, and automatically confirming to substantially all callers while on line during said calls that their calls have been received; subsequently using the electronically captured subscriber telephone numbers to call on multitudes of the telephone sets at a time until substantially all of said calls have been returned; electronically prompting all persons who answer the calls on said multitudes of telephone sets to complete their responses to the broadcast promotion through their telephone sets while on line; and automatically receiving the completed responses while on line with said persons through their telephone sets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of enhancing response to a promotion broadcast over an essentially one-way mass medium, wherein recipients of that broadcast promotion are prompted to respond thereto through their telephone sets having different subscriber telephone numbers, comprising in combination the steps of:
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dividing said method into a call receiving phase and a response completing phase carried out at least minutes after termination of said call receiving phase; shortening said call receiving phase relative to said response completing phase by automatically receiving calls of recipients using their telephone sets to respond to said broadcast promotion, electronically capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets through which said calls are made, and automatically confirming to substantially all callers while on line during said calls that their calls have been received; and subsequently carrying out the response completing phase by; using the electronically captured subscriber telephone numbers to return said calls; prompting all persons who answer the calls on telephone sets to complete their responses to the broadcast promotion through their telephone sets while on line; and receiving the completed responses while on line with said persons through their telephone sets. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. In apparatus for enhancing response to a promotion broadcast over an essentially one-way mass medium wherein recipients of that broadcast promotion are prompted to respond thereto through their telephone sets having different subscriber telephone numbers, the improvement comprising in combination:
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receiving means for receiving calls of recipients of said broadcast promotion using their telephone sets to respond to said broadcast promotion; capturing means connected to said receiving means for capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets through which said calls are made; means connected to said receiving means for confirming to substantially all callers while on line during said calls that their calls have been received; and means for returning said received calls, including in combination; means connected to said capturing means for calling with the captured subscriber telephone numbers on multitudes of the telephone sets at a time; means for prompting all persons who answer the calls on said multitudes of telephone sets to complete their response to the broadcast promotion through their telephone sets while on line; and means for receiving the completed responses while on line with said persons through their telephone sets. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification