Systems and methods to convert a call generated from an advertisement

• US 9,183,559 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2006
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thryv, Inc. (Mudrick Capital Management LP)
• Original Assignee: YellowPages.com LLC (Mudrick Capital Management LP)
• Inventors: Altberg, Ebbe, Faber, Scott, Hirson, Ron, Van Der Linden, Sean
• Primary Examiner(s): Alvarez, Raquel
• Application Number:
  US11/467,148
• Publication Number:
  US 20070162334A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,365 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.73, 705/14.68, 705/14.69, 705/14.7, 705/14.55, 705/14.41, 705/14.43, 705/14.53, 705/14.52, 705/14.66, 705/7.12, 705/7.16, 379/112.01, 379/114.01, 379/114.05, 379/114.13, 709/204
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0274 Split fees
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/08 Metering calls to called party , i.e. B-party charged for the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/09 Third party charged communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/12 Discriminative metering , charging or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/14 according to class of calling party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/18 according to duration of the call , or the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/26 with a meter or performing charging or billing at the exchange controlled by an operator
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/30 the meter or calculation of charges not being controlled from an exchange

Abstract

Methods and systems for converting a call generated from an advertisement. One embodiment includes: establishing a real time communication connection between a first entity and a second entity via a communication reference embedded in an advertisement that is presented on behalf of the second entity; billing the second entity for the advertisement in response to the communication connection being established via the communication reference; monitoring the communication connection between the first entity and the second entity to detect a pre-defined indication; and charging the first entity, on behalf of the second entity, for communications with the second entity over the communication connection in response to a detected occurrence of the pre-defined indication.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing, by a server system, a communication connection between caller and a callee based at least in part on a Voice over Internet Protocol connection and via a communication reference embedded in an advertisement that is presented on behalf of the callee;

processing identification information received by the server system to determine an attribute of the caller based at least in part on the identification information, the attribute of the caller based at least in part on an identity of the caller or an anonymity of the caller;

processing by the server system an indication of a previously stored preference associated with the callee pertaining to charging callers and/or not charging callers;

based at least in part on i) the attribute of the caller and ii) the indication of the previously stored preference associated with the callee, determining by the server system whether to initiate an authentication process to authenticate the caller by determining whether a first condition exists or a second condition exists, where;

upon determining existence of the first condition based at least in part on i) the attribute of the caller and ii) the indication of the previously stored preference associated with the callee, the server system initiates the authentication process to authenticate the caller;

upon determining existence of the second condition based least in part on i) the attribute of the caller and ii) the indication of the previously stored preference associated with the callee, the server system does not charge the caller for a first period of time;

billing, by the server system, the callee for the advertisement in response to the communication connection being established via the communication reference;

monitoring, by the server system, the communication connection between the caller and the callee to detect a first pre-defined indication provided by the caller;

charging, by the server system, the caller, on behalf of the callee, for communications with the callee over the communication connection in response to a detected occurrence of the first pre-defined indication;

processing, by the server system, a second pre-defined indication from a user device of the callee during the communication connection, wherein the second pre-defined indication corresponds to a user input made via a user interface of the callee; and

stopping, by the server system, the charging of the caller for communication time over the communication connection in response to a detected occurrence of the second pre-defined indication provided by the callee.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the caller is not charged a fee for the communication connection between the caller and the callee before the detected occurrence of the first pre-defined indication.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing the communication connection comprises establishing the communication connection without the caller revealing the identity of the caller.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

authenticating the caller to continue the communication connection with the callee.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein after the detected occurrence of the first pre-defined indication, the caller is charged a fee based on a time duration starting from the detected occurrence of the first predefined indication.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein after the detected occurrence of the first pre-defined indication, the caller is charged a fee for a pre-determined amount of communication time with the callee.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication connection is at least one of text, voice, image, audio or video.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication connection comprises a telephone connection.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first pre-defined indication includes a signal generated according to pressing at least one key of a phone.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the signal includes a Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signal.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the monitoring comprises detecting the signal from the caller.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

detecting signals indicating a fee the caller is to be charged, after the detected occurrence of the first pre-defined indication.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

providing a first voice prompt to the caller to accept the fee to continue the connection between the caller and the callee.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first voice prompt is not provided to the callee.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the first pre-defined indication includes a message received in response to a user input in a graphical user interface.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the communication connection comprises a first connection and a second connection initiated through a Voice over Internet Protocol system.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one of the first connection or the second connection is partially over a packet switched network and partially over a circuit switched network.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning the communication reference to the callee for inclusion in the advertisement.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the communication reference comprises a telephonic contact of a server.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising resuming the charging of the caller for communication time over the communication connection in response to a request from the caller or the callee.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication connection is established via a web interface.

22. One or more non-transitory, processor-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by a server system to:

establish, by a server system, a communication connection between a caller and a callee based at least in part on a Voice over Internet Protocol connection and via a communication reference embedded in an advertisement that is presented on behalf of the callee;

process identification information received by the server system to determine an attribute of the caller based at least in part on the identification information, the attribute of the caller based at least in part on an identity of the caller or an anonymity of the caller;

process by the server system an indication of a previously stored preference associated with the callee pertaining to charging callers and/or not charging callers;

based at least in part on i) the attribute of the caller and ii) the indication of the previously stored preference associated with the callee, determine by the server system whether to initiate an authentication process to authenticate the caller by determining whether a first condition exists or a second condition exists, where;

upon determining existence of the first condition based at least in part on i) the attribute of the caller and ii) the indication of the previously stored preference associated with the callee, the server system initiates the authentication process to authenticate the caller;

upon determining existence of the second condition based least in part on i) the attribute of the caller and ii) the indication of the previously stored preference associated with the callee, the server system does not charge the caller for a first period of time;

bill, by the server system, the callee for the advertisement in response to the communication connection being established via the communication reference;

monitor, by the server system, the communication connection between the caller and the callee to detect a first pre-defined indication provided by the caller;

charge, by the server system, the caller for communications with the callee over the communication connection in response to a detected occurrence of the first pre-defined indication;

process, by the server system, a second pre-defined indication from a user device of the callee during the communication connection, wherein the second pre-defined indication corresponds to a user input made via a user interface of the callee; and

stop, by the server system, the charging of the caller for communication time over the communication connection in response to a detected occurrence of the second pre-defined indication provided by the callee.

23. A data processing system, comprising:

a server system comprising memory and one or more processors coupled with the memory to;

establish a communication connection between a caller and a callee based at least in part on a Voice over Internet Protocol connection and via a communication reference embedded in an advertisement that is presented on behalf of the callee;

process identification information received by the server system to determine an attribute of the caller based at least in part on the identification information, the attribute of the caller based at least in part on an identity of the caller or an anonymity of the caller;

process by the server system an indication of a previously stored preference associated with the callee pertaining to charging callers and/or not charging callers;

based at least in part on i) the attribute of the caller and ii) the indication of the previously stored preference associated with the callee, determine by the server system whether to initiate an authentication process to authenticate the caller by determining whether a first condition exists or a second condition exists, where;

upon determining existence of the first condition based at least in part on i) the attribute of the caller and ii) the indication of the previously stored preference associated with the callee, the server system initiates the authentication process to authenticate the caller;

upon determining existence of the second condition based least in part on i) the attribute of the caller and ii) the indication of the previously stored preference associated with the callee, the server system does not charge the caller for a first period of time;

bill the callee for the advertisement in response to the communication connection being established via the communication reference;

monitor the communication connection between the caller and the callee to detect a first pre-defined indication provided by the caller;

charge the caller for communications with the callee over the communication connection in response to a detected occurrence of the first pre-defined indication;

process a second pre-defined indication from a user device of the callee during the communication connection, wherein the second pre-defined indication corresponds to a user input made via a user interface of the callee; and

stop the charging of the caller for communication time over the communication connection in response to a detected occurrence of the second pre-defined indication provided by the callee.