Systems, methods, and apparatus for providing promotion information to a mobile device

• US 8,577,345 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2009
• Issued: 11/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Dragt, Bruce
• Primary Examiner(s): Karikari, Kwasi
• Assistant Examiner(s): YI, ALEXANDER J.
• Application Number:
  US12/396,258
• Publication Number:
  US 20100222041A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,709 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.2, 455/3.04, 455/3.01, 709/217, 725/32, 705/3, 705/4, 705/5, 705/6
• US Class Current: 455/414.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus providing promotion information to a mobile device are provided by certain embodiments of the invention. According to one embodiment, promotion information for a program may be associated with an information carrying tone that is transmitted to a mobile device associated with an operator by a tone transmission device. An indication received responsive to the mobile device receiving the information carrying tone can be stored, and at least one entry associating the promotion and the operator can be stored responsive to receiving the indication. Also according to various aspects, following receipt of the indication, it may be determined whether the promotion is validated and/or can be activated for the operator, and promotional information can be communicated to the operator, such as a activation confirmation or a redeemable promotion.

Claims

1. A method for communicating a promotion to be output by a speaker of a tone transmission device for receipt by a mobile device, the method comprising executing computer-executable instructions performed by one or more processors for:

associating the promotion information with an information carrying tone;

receiving, by an information source, an indication responsive to the mobile device receiving the information carrying tone;

receiving, by the information source, confirmation data indicating that an operator of the mobile device has perceived selected content associated with an event tied to the promotion, wherein the confirmation data facilitates the activation of the promotion, and the confirmation data comprises a unique code or identifier; and

transmitting, by the information source to the mobile device based at least in part upon the received indication and the received confirmation data, the promotion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication comprises receiving at least one location identifier extracted from the information carrying tone, and further comprising:

retrieving additional promotion information based at least in part on the at least one location identifier; and

transmitting the additional promotion information to the operator.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein transmitting the additional promotion information to the operator comprises transmitting the additional promotion information to the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the information source, that the promotion is valid based at least in part on promotion conditions associated with the promotion; and

activating the promotion for the operator.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the promotion comprises transmitting at least one of an activation confirmation or a redeemable promotion.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising generating at least one of the activation confirmation or the redeemable promotion prior to transmittal.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the information source to the mobile device, a request for the confirmation data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a request for the confirmation data is presented to the operator by one of:

a television broadcast, a radio broadcast, Internet content, or an advertisement display.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the confirmation data is entered into the mobile device by the operator upon the operator perceiving the selected content.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the confirmation data is transmitted to the mobile device by a tone transmission device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected content comprises at least one of:

a television broadcast, a radio broadcast, Internet content, a predefined event, or a predefined activity.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating the promotion with an account associated with the operator.

13. A method for communicating a promotion to be output by a speaker of a tone transmission device for receipt by a mobile device, the method comprising executing computer-executable instructions performed by one or more processors for:

receiving, by a central information source, an indication from a mobile device associated with an operator, wherein the indication identifies an information carrying tone transmitted to the mobile device;

determining, by the central information source, that the information carrying tone is associated with promotion information;

associating, by the central information source, the operator and the promotion information;

receiving, by the central information source from the mobile device, confirmation data indicating that the operator has perceived selected content associated with an event tied to the promotion, wherein the confirmation data facilitates the activation of the promotion, and the confirmation data comprises a unique code or identifier; and

facilitating, by the central information source based at least in part upon the received indication and the received confirmation data, activation of the promotion.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting a message, from the central information source to a third party information source, identifying at least the operator and the promotion information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the message to the third party information source further comprises transmitting the confirmation data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the third party information source is operable to transmit at least one of an activation confirmation or a redeemable promotion to the operator responsive to receiving the message from the central information source.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving, at the central information source from a third party information source, a confirmation indicating that the promotion is active for the operator.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting at least one of an activation confirmation or a redeemable promotion to the operator based at least in part on the confirmation received from the third party indicating that the promotion is active for the operator.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the confirmation received from the third party information source comprises at least one of the activation confirmation or the redeemable promotion confirmation.

20. A system for communicating a promotion to be output by a speaker of a tone transmission device for receipt by a mobile device, comprising:

a network interface operable to connect with a network;

memory comprising computer-executable instructions to communicate promotion information;

at least one processor in communication with the memory and the network interface, and operable to execute the computer-executable instructions to;

associate promotion information for a promotion with an information carrying tone;

receive an indication responsive to the mobile device receiving the information carrying tone;

receive confirmation data indicating that an operator of the mobile device has perceived selected content associated with an event tied to the promotion, wherein the confirmation data facilitates the activation of the promotion, and the confirmation data comprises a unique code or identifier; and

facilitate transmission, to the mobile device based at least in part upon the received indication and the received confirmation data, of the promotion.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

receive at least one location identifier extracted from the information carrying tone;

retrieve additional promotion information based at least in part on the at least one location identifier; and

transmit the additional promotion information to the operator.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

determine that the promotion is valid based at least in part on promotion conditions associated with the promotion; and

activate the promotion for the operator.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor facilitates transmission of the promotion by executing the computer-executable instructions to facilitate transmission of at least one of an activation confirmation or a redeemable promotion to the operator responsive to receiving the indication.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to generate at least one of the activation confirmation or the redeemable promotion prior to transmittal.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to execute the computer-executable instructions to transmit a request for the confirmation data.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

transmit a message to a third party information source identifying at least the operator and the promotion information; and

receive from the third party information source a confirmation indicating that the promotion is active for the operator.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the confirmation received from the third party information source comprises at least one of an activation confirmation or a redeemable promotion for transmission to the operator.

28. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to execute the computer-executable instructions to associate the promotion with an account associated with the operator.