Method and system for enabling the dispensing and redeeming of vouchers by voicemail

• US 7,493,269 B2
• Filed: 10/30/2001
• Issued: 02/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mavenir Ltd. (Mavenir Group Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Comverse Limited (Mavenir Group Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Fostick, Gideon, Bloch, Benjie, Beery, Gideon
• Primary Examiner(s): JANVIER, JEAN D
• Application Number:
  US09/984,382
• Publication Number:
  US 20030083934A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,667 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/26, 705/27, 235/380, 235/381, 235/382, 235/383, 455/38
• US Class Current: 705/14.26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0225 Avoiding frauds
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A system for providing voucher dispensing and redeeming using current mobile communications hardware and infrastructure. The system enables the creation, reception and usage of voice vouchers, wherein digital vouchers are embodied as attachments within voicemail messages. In this way, the system enables the transfer and interaction with online vouchers using existing voicemail systems, such that the content and authentication data of a voucher may be received and redeemed using a standard mobile communications device. Furthermore the voucher may be verified and controlled by a voucher vendor, by using a specialized voucher server.

Claims

1. A system for enabling the usage of voicemail to distribute and redeem vouchers, comprising:

i. a Voucher Server for enabling distribution and redemption of voicemail vouchers;

ii. a Handset for interacting with the vouchers from said Voucher Server and receiving a voicemail voucher link from said Server, wherein the voicemail voucher link is related to a voicemail voucher;

iii. a Point Of Sale system (POS) for accepting redemption of said voicemail vouchers, wherein a user redeems the voicemail voucher by forwarding using the handset the voicemail voucher link to the Voucher Server with information identifying the POS, so that the Voucher Server sends the voicemail voucher to the appropriate POS for redemption of the voicemail voucher.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said Voucher Server further includes an Application Program Interface for enabling usage of at least one voucher from at least one external application.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said Voucher Server comprises:

a. a Voucher Application for creating and managing said voucher; and

b. a Messaging Application for delivering said voucher to said handset and for delivering messages to said POS.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said Voucher Server further comprises an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) engine for extracting the voucher from an audio message.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein said Voucher Server further comprises a dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) decoding engine for extracting the voucher from an audio message.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein said Voucher Server further includes a voucher creation application for creating at least one voucher that is compatible to the system.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein said Voucher Server is operative to manage the vouchers by determining voucher characteristics selected from the group consisting of voucher content, beneficiary identity, voucher type, voucher vendor details, voucher deadline, voucher conditions, voucher eligibility requirements and verification codes of a voucher.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said Handset is selected from the group consisting of cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, mobile computers, notebook computers, and personal computers.