Software program and method for offering promotions on a phone

• US 8,280,360 B2
• Filed: 12/08/2006
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Stone, Kevin M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hu, Jinsong
• Assistant Examiner(s): Georgewill, Opiribo
• Application Number:
  US11/636,172
• Publication Number:
  US 20080139223A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,125 Days
• Field of Search: 455/410, 455/412, 455/414, 455/414.1, 455/417, 455/415, 379/114.13, 379/114.12, 379/114.1, 705/14.1
• US Class Current: 455/417
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2011 Service processing based on information specified by a party before or during a call, e.g. information, tone or routing selection
• 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 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 Advertisement messages

Abstract

The present invention includes a method and software application for providing a promotion to a user on a phone. The software application resides on a user'"'"'s phone and “listens” for phone numbers dialed by a user. In response to the user dialing a phone number, the software determines whether a promotion or an offer for a promotion should be provided to the user. In response to determining to play or offer to play a promotion to the user, the software application on the phone effectively “intercepts” the call and plays to the user either a promotion or an offer to hear about a promotion prior to placing an outbound voice call. The software application may retrieve the promotion from local memory or may connect with a remote server to download an applicable promotion.

Claims

1. A method for offering a promotion to a user that has entered a command on a phone to place a call to a phone number, the method comprising:

listening on the phone for a command from a user to place a call to a phone number;

in response to the user entering such command, performing the following;

providing the user with an option to receive a promotion, wherein the option is initiated by an application local on the phone that consumes the command to prevent the phone from immediately initiating an outbound call in order to provide the option prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call;

in response to the user accepting the option, providing the user with the promotion, wherein the promotion is a product offering for a business that is competitive with a business associated with the phone number and includes an offer to perform an alternate action and, in response to the user accepting such offer, the phone initiates such alternate action instead of placing a call to the phone number; and

in response to the user not responding to the option or not accepting the offer, placing a call to the phone number.

2. A method for offering a promotion to a user that has entered a command on a phone to place a call to a phone number, the method comprising:

listening on the phone for a command from a user to place a call to a phone number;

in response to the user entering such command, determining whether or not to offer a promotion to the user, wherein such determination is made prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call to the phone number;

in response to determining to offer a promotion to the user, performing the following;

providing the user with an option to receive a promotion, wherein the option is initiated by an application local on the phone that consumes the command to prevent the phone from immediately initiating an outbound call in order to provide the option prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call;

in response to the user accepting the option, providing the user with the promotion, wherein the promotion is a product offering for a business that is competitive with a business associated with the phone number and includes an offer to perform an alternate action and, in response to the user accepting such offer, the phone initiates such alternate action instead of placing a call to the phone number; and

in response to the user not responding to the option or not accepting the offer, placing a call to the phone number.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein providing the promotion comprises providing a promotion for a business associated with the phone number.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the promotion is information about the business.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the promotion is a product offering by the business.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the promotion is a sale offered by the business.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the promotion offers a reward for purchasing a product from the business.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein, the alternate action is placing a call to the competing business.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion is a discount off a product offered by the competing business.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion includes a coupon.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein providing the promotion includes providing the user with the option to save the promotion on the user'"'"'s phone.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the option to receive information about the promotion is provided in audio form on the phone by playing a voice prompt.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein the option to receive information about the promotion is provided in visual form on the phone by displaying the option on a user interface on the phone.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion is provided to the user in audio form on the phone by playing a voice prompt.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion is provided to the user in visual form by displaying text describing the promotion on a user interface on the phone.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on user profile information.

17. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on user location.

18. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on known user preferences.

19. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on previous promotions offered the user.

20. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on previous phone numbers dialed by user.

21. The method of claim 2, wherein the promotion provided to the user is paid for by an advertiser and wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected at least in part based on the advertiser that bid the most money for promotion placement.

22. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether or not to play a promotion to a user comprises determining whether the phone number is associated with a promotion.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein determining whether the phone number is associated with a promotion comprises communicating with a remote server to determine whether the phone number is associated with a promotion, and, if the phone number is associated with a promotion, downloading the promotion from the server.

24. A method for offering a promotion to a user that has entered a command on a phone to place a call to a phone number, the method comprising:

listening on the phone for a command from a user to place a call to a phone number;

in response to the user entering such command, determining whether or not to offer a promotion to the user, wherein such determination is made prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call to the phone number;

in response to determining to offer a promotion to the user, performing the following;

providing the user with a choice to either continue with the call or to first receive information about the promotion, wherein the choice is provided by an application local on the phone that consumes the command to prevent the phone from immediately initiating an outbound call in order to provide the choice prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call;

in response to the user selecting to receive information about the promotion, providing the user with information about the promotion, wherein the information is about a product offering for a business that is competitive with a business associated with the phone number and includes an offer to perform an alternate action and, in response to the user accepting such offer, the phone initiates such alternate action instead of placing a call to the phone number; and

in response to the user selecting to continue with the call or not accepting the offer, placing a call to the phone number.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein providing the promotion comprises providing a promotion for a business associated with a phone number.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the promotion is information about the business.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the promotion is a product offering by the business.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the promotion is a sale offered by the business.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the promotion offers a reward for purchasing a product from the business.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein, the alternate action is placing a call to the competing business.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion is a discount off a product offered by the competing business.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion includes a coupon.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein, in providing user with information about the promotion, providing the user with the option to save the promotion on the user'"'"'s phone.

34. The method of claim 24, wherein the option to receive information about the promotion is provided in audio form on the phone by playing a voice prompt.

35. The method of claim 24, wherein the option to receive information about the promotion is provided in visual form on the phone by displaying the option on a user interface on the phone.

36. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion is provided to the user in audio form on the phone by playing a voice prompt.

37. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion is provided to the user in visual form by displaying text describing the promotion on a user interface on the phone.

38. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on user profile information.

39. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on user location.

40. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on known user preferences.

41. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on previous promotions offered the user.

42. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected based at least in part on previous phone numbers dialed by user.

43. The method of claim 24, wherein the promotion provided to the user is paid for by an advertiser and wherein the promotion provided to the user is selected at least in part based on the advertiser that bid the most money for promotion placement.

44. The method of claim 24, wherein determining whether or not to play a promotion to a user comprises determining whether the phone number is associated with a promotion.

45. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising software code that, when executed by a processor on a phone, enables the phone to perform the following method:

listening on the phone for a command from a user to place a call to a phone number;

in response to the user entering such command, determining whether or not to offer a promotion to the user, wherein such determination is made prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call to the phone number;

in response to determining to offer a promotion to the user, performing the following;

providing the user with an option to receive information about the promotion, wherein the option is initiated by an application local on the phone that consumes the command to prevent the phone from immediately initiating an outbound call in order to provide the option prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call;

in response to the user accepting the option, providing the user with information about the promotion, wherein the information is about a product offering for a business that is competitive with a business associated with the phone number and includes an offer to perform an alternate action and, in response to the user accepting such offer, the phone initiates such alternate action instead of placing a call to the phone number; and

in response to the user not responding to the option or not accepting the offer, placing a call to the phone number.

46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein determining whether or not to play a promotion to a user comprises determining whether the phone number is associated with a promotion.

47. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising software code that, when executed by a processor on a phone, enables the phone to perform the following method:

listening on the phone for a command from a user to place a call to a phone number;

in response to the user entering such command, determining whether or not to offer a promotion to the user, wherein such determination is made prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call to the phone number;

in response to determining to offer a promotion to the user, performing the following;

providing the user with a choice to either continue with the call or to first receive information about the promotion, wherein the choice is provided by an application local on the phone that consumes the command to prevent the phone from immediately initiating an outbound call in order to provide the choice prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call;

in response to the user selecting to receive information about the promotion, providing the user with information about the promotion, wherein the information is about a product offering for a business that is competitive with a business associated with the phone number and includes an offer to perform an alternate action and, in response to the user accepting such offer, the phone initiates such alternate action instead of placing a call to the phone number; and

in response to the user selecting to continue with the call, placing a call to the phone number.

48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 47, wherein determining whether or not to play a promotion to a user comprises determining whether the phone number is associated with a promotion.

49. A method for offering a promotion to a user that has entered a command on a phone to place a call to a phone number, the method comprising:

listening on the phone for a command from a user to place a call to a phone number;

in response to the user entering such command, determining whether or not to offer a promotion to the user, wherein such determination is made prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call to the phone number and wherein the promotion is a product offering for a business that is competitive with a business associated with the phone number;

in response to determining to offer a promotion to the user, performing the following;

providing the user with an option for an alternate action related to the promotion, wherein the option is initiated by an application local on the phone that consumes the command to prevent the phone from immediately initiating an outbound call in order to provide the option prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call;

in response to the user accepting the option, performing the alternate action related to the promotion instead of placing a call to the phone number; and

in response to the user not responding to the option, placing a call to the phone number.

50. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising software code that, when executed by a processor on a phone, enables the phone to perform the following method:

listening on the phone for a command from a user to place a call to a phone number;

in response to the user entering such command, determining whether or not to offer a promotion to the user, wherein such determination is made prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call to the phone number;

in response to determining to offer a promotion to the user, performing the following;

providing the user with an option to receive a promotion, wherein the option is initiated by an application local on the phone that consumes the command to prevent the phone from immediately initiating an outbound call in order to provide the option prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call;

in response to the user accepting the option, providing the user with the promotion, wherein the promotion is for a business that is competitive with a business associated with the phone number and includes an offer to perform an alternate action of placing a call to the competing business and, in response to the user accepting such offer, the phone initiates such alternate action instead of placing a call to the phone number; and

in response to the user not responding to the option or not accepting the offer, placing a call to the phone number.

51. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising software code that, when executed by a processor on a phone, enables the phone to perform the following method:

listening on the phone for a command from a user to place a call to a phone number;

in response to the user entering such command, determining whether or not to offer a promotion to the user, wherein such determination is made prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call to the phone number;

in response to determining to offer a promotion to the user, performing the following;

providing the user with an option to receive a promotion, wherein the option is initiated by an application local on the phone that consumes the command to prevent the phone from immediately initiating an outbound call in order to provide the option prior to the phone initiating an outbound voice call;

in response to the user accepting the option, providing the user with the promotion, wherein the promotion is a discount off a product offered by a business that is competitive with a business associated with the phone number and includes an offer to perform an alternate action and, in response to the user accepting such offer, the phone initiates such alternate action instead of placing a call to the phone number; and

in response to the user not responding to the option or not accepting the offer, placing a call to the phone number.