Delivering specialized services to users of phones
First Claim
1. A method of delivering specialized services to users of phones by a missed call server, said method comprising:
- maintaining a setup data related to a plurality of specialized services, each specialized service of said plurality of specialized services having a corresponding plurality of options, said setup data associating each of said corresponding plurality of options to a corresponding phone number,wherein a first specialized service of said plurality of specialized services having a first plurality of options, wherein said setup data associates each of said first plurality of options to a corresponding one of a first plurality of phone numbers, said setup data also indicating that said first specialized service is offered by a first service provider;
receiving a first missed call and a second missed call, wherein said first missed call is from a first user to a first phone number of said first plurality of phone numbers, and said second missed call is from a second user to a second phone number of said first plurality of phone numbers;
determining, based on said setup data, a first option of said first plurality of options corresponds to said first phone number, and that a second option of said first plurality of options corresponds to said second phone number; and
sending data specifying said first option and said second option to said first service provider in view of said setup data indicating that said first service provider is offering said first specialized service with said first option and said second option,said missed call server containing a processor and a memory, said processor executing instructions stored in said memory to perform at least one of said maintaining, said receiving, said determining and said sending.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An aspect of the present invention enables users to avail specialized services using missed calls. In one embodiment, a missed call server on receiving an indication that a missed call has been placed by a user to a phone number, determines the specialized service corresponding to the phone number, and then sends a data to the service provider offering the determined service. The service provider then delivers the specialized service (sought to be availed) to the user. One of the specialized services is the delivery of content to the user. Thus, a user is enabled to access different contents by placing missed calls to the appropriate phone numbers.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of delivering specialized services to users of phones by a missed call server, said method comprising:
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maintaining a setup data related to a plurality of specialized services, each specialized service of said plurality of specialized services having a corresponding plurality of options, said setup data associating each of said corresponding plurality of options to a corresponding phone number, wherein a first specialized service of said plurality of specialized services having a first plurality of options, wherein said setup data associates each of said first plurality of options to a corresponding one of a first plurality of phone numbers, said setup data also indicating that said first specialized service is offered by a first service provider; receiving a first missed call and a second missed call, wherein said first missed call is from a first user to a first phone number of said first plurality of phone numbers, and said second missed call is from a second user to a second phone number of said first plurality of phone numbers; determining, based on said setup data, a first option of said first plurality of options corresponds to said first phone number, and that a second option of said first plurality of options corresponds to said second phone number; and sending data specifying said first option and said second option to said first service provider in view of said setup data indicating that said first service provider is offering said first specialized service with said first option and said second option, said missed call server containing a processor and a memory, said processor executing instructions stored in said memory to perform at least one of said maintaining, said receiving, said determining and said sending. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions for causing a missed call server to deliver specialized services to users of phones, wherein execution of said one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in said missed call server causes said missed call server to perform the actions of:
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maintaining a setup data associating each of a plurality of specialized services to a corresponding one of a plurality of phone numbers in a data store, wherein said setup data further indicates a corresponding one of a plurality of service providers offering each of said plurality of specialized services; receiving an indication that a user placed a missed call to a first phone number contained in said plurality of phone numbers; determining, based on said setup data, a first specialized service corresponding to said first phone number and a first service provider offering said first specialized service, said first specialized service being contained in said plurality of specialized services and said first service provider being contained in said plurality of service providers; sending a request for said first specialized service to said first service provider; receiving, from said first service provider, a corresponding response containing a content corresponding to said first specialized service; adding additional information to said corresponding response; and delivering said content with said additional information to said user as a response to said indication. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of validating users of a website by a missed call server, said method comprising:
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displaying a phone number to a user on said website, wherein said phone number is a randomly generated phone number; receiving a validating phone number from said user on said website, and associating said phone number with said validating phone number of said user; receiving an indication that said user has placed a missed call to said phone number; and determining that said user is a valid user if said missed call was placed from the validating phone number previously provided by said user to said website, said missed call server containing a processor and a memory, said processor executing instructions stored in said memory to perform at least one of said displaying, said receiving, and said determining.
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Specification