Directory assistance with data processing station

• US 8,107,602 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2007
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jingle Networks Incorporated (Marchex Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Jingle Networks Incorporated (Marchex Incorporated)
• Inventors: Wolmuth, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, QUYNH H
• Application Number:
  US11/897,262
• Publication Number:
  US 20080081661A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,616 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.22, 379/93.12, 379/114.05, 379/114.1, 379/114.11, 379/114.12, 379/114.13
• US Class Current: 379/88.22
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 Advertisement messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems

Abstract

The current invention is a system for providing directory assistance service in which a user sends a request to the system and the system will, based on the request, return advertisements, which may be in a visible or audible form. The advertisements are selected from a databank, which may include any number advertisements categorized within the category associated with the service, according to selection criteria. After the advertising announcement is completed, the directory assistance call is processed as usual.

Claims

1. A method for providing directory assistance information in a public telecommunication network via a toll-free number, the method comprising:

receiving a request for directory assistance information for a specific provider of goods or services from a customer station at a data processing station;

examining the request for directory assistance information to identify a category associated with the specific provider of goods or services, including looking up the requested directory assistance information in a database to determine the category;

selecting an advertisement categorized within the identified category associated with the specific provider of goods or services; and

forwarding the selected advertisement, retrieved from a stored media, to the custom station as a short message service (SMS) text message wherein the SMS text message contains a hyperlink or other executable command to retrieve additional information regarding the specific provider of goods or services.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer station is a handheld personal computer (PC).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for information and/or the advertisement are provided in a wireless environment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for information and/or the advertisement are of a visual nature.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

querying a database for selecting the advertisement, the querying using as at least one query parameter derived from the examining the request for information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing access to a service associated with the selected advertisement.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

connecting the customer station to a telephone number associated with the selected advertisement.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the query parameter is a geographic location component of the specific provider of goods or services in the request for information.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the query parameter is a name of a business that is the specific provider of goods or services.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the query parameter is a general type of business associated with the specific provider of goods or services specified in the request for information.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the query parameter is a description of a product or service.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the query parameter is the telephone number associated with the specific provider associated with the request for information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the query parameter is a Standard Industry Classification (SIC) code associated with the telephone number associated with the specific provider.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting is performed by an operator, a machine, or a combination of operator and machine.

15. The method as in claim 1, wherein the request for information for a specific provider of goods or services does not inherently determine the category.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein examining the request for information includes examining a request provided by a data application running at the customer station.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein examining the request for information includes examining a request provided by a short message service (SMS).

18. The method of claim 1, wherein forwarding the selected advertisement includes forwarding the selected advertisement to the customer station in a form that is displayed to a customer.

19. A system for providing access to directory assistance information for a public telecommunications network via a toll-free number, the system comprising:

a data processing station that operates to;

receive a request for directory assistance information for a specific provider of goods or services from a customer station,

examine the request for directory assistance information to identify a category associated with a specific provider of goods or services, including to lookup the requested directory assistance information in a database to determine the category,

select an advertisement from a plurality of advertisements categorized within the identified category associated with the specific provider of goods or services,

retrieve the selected advertisement from a stored media, and

forward the selected advertisement to the customer station as

a short message service (SMS) text message wherein the SMS text message contains a hyperlink or other executable command to retrieve additional information regarding the specific provider of goods or services.

20. The system of claim 19, the data processing station further comprising:

a second receiver that operates to receive the request for directory assistance information from the customer station; and

a processor that operates to retrieve the selected advertisement from a stored media.

21. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

a database apparatus that operates to process a query to determine the selected advertisement, the query having at least one query parameter derived from the request for directory assistance information.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the query parameter is a name of a business that is the specific provider of the goods or the services.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the query parameter is a description of a good or service.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the query parameter is the telephone number associated with the specific provider associated with the request for directory assistance information.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the query parameter is a SIC code associated with the telephone number associated with the specific provider.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the processing station further selects the advertisement based on a telephone number requested by the user.

27. The system of claim 19, wherein the customer station is a handheld PC.

28. The method of claim 19, wherein the request for information and/or the advertisement are provided in a wireless environment.

29. The method of claim 19, wherein the request for information and/or the advertisement are of a visual nature.

30. The system of claim 19, wherein the call processing station further provides access to a service associated with the selected advertisement.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the customer station is selectively connected to a telephone number associated with the selected advertisement.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the customer station is connected to the service provider associated with the selected advertisement only after prompting a user.

33. The system of claim 19, wherein the customer station is selectively connected to a telephone number for the specific provider associated with the request for information.

34. The system of claim 19, wherein the data processing station is configured to enable the advertisement to be selected by an operator, a machine, or a combination of operator and machine.

35. The system of claim 19, wherein the request for directory assistance information does not inherently determine the category.