Criteria based marketing for telephone directory assistance
First Claim
1. A method for providing directory assistance information in a public telecommunication network accessed by a toll-free number, the network comprising a customer station and a call processing station, the method comprising:
- at the customer station,dialing a telephone number used for accessing the call processing station;
setting up a call connection from the customer station to the call processing station;
providing a request for information relating to a telephone number for a specific provider of goods or services;
at the call processing station,receiving the request for information from the customer station;
examining the request for information to identify a category associated with the specific provider of goods or services;
automatically selecting an advertisement categorized within the category;
receiving the selected advertisement from a stored media;
forwarding the selected advertisement to the customer station; and
at the customer station, receiving the selected advertisement.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The current invention is a system for providing telephone directory assistance service in which a telephone user calls to the system and the system will, based on the requested number or type of service, hear a recorded advertisement. The advertisements are selected from a databank according to selection criteria, which may include any number of advertisements. After the advertising announcement is completed, the directory assistance call is processed as usual. The selection criteria can include the use of SIC codes.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. A method for providing directory assistance information in a public telecommunication network accessed by a toll-free number, the network comprising a customer station and a call processing station, the method comprising:
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at the customer station, dialing a telephone number used for accessing the call processing station; setting up a call connection from the customer station to the call processing station; providing a request for information relating to a telephone number for a specific provider of goods or services; at the call processing station, receiving the request for information from the customer station; examining the request for information to identify a category associated with the specific provider of goods or services; automatically selecting an advertisement categorized within the category; receiving the selected advertisement from a stored media; forwarding the selected advertisement to the customer station; and at the customer station, receiving the selected advertisement. - 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)
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24. A system for providing access to directory assistance information for a public network via a toll-free number, the system comprising:
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a customer station including call connection circuitry; and a call processing station that operates to receive a request for directory assistance information from the customer station, examine the request for directory assistance information to identify a category associated with a specific provider of goods or services, automatically select an advertisement categorized within the category and selectively forward the selected advertisement to the customer station. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification