Universal short code administration facility

• US 9,544,745 B2
• Filed: 05/05/2014
• Issued: 01/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skybase 365 Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Skybase 365 Incorporated
• Inventors: Sweatman, Phillip J., Lovell, Robert C. Jr., Chava, Venkatesh, Zimmern, Christian
• Primary Examiner(s): PHUONG, DAI
• Application Number:
  US14/269,875
• Publication Number:
  US 20140323169A1
• Time in Patent Office: 981 Days
• Field of Search: 455410-413, 4554142-4143, 455/466
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/184 Messaging devices, e.g. message centre

Abstract

Systems and methods for assigning short codes to provide uniformity among wireless carriers. In the systems and methods, a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator maintains a list of short codes and their lease status so that SMS messages sent to a particular short code may be routed to the proper holder of the short code. A network facilitator is in communication with both the USC Administrator and at least one wireless carrier to route the SMS message to the proper holder of the short code. The short code may be leased for a specified period of time so that the short code can be reassigned after expiration of the lease.

Claims

1. Within a Universal Short Code (USC) administration entity, a server-based method for administering USCs, the server-based method comprising:

at a server of the USC administration entity, receiving a USC lease request, the USC lease request comprising (1) an indicia of an Application Provider (AP) and (2) a specified period of time;

determining from the USC lease request a specific USC;

determining a current status of the specific USC through at least a lookup against a repository; and

assigning, by the server, the specific USC to the AP for the specified period of time, provided the current status of the specific USC is available, by at least updating the repository to associate the AP indicia with the specific USC.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a history of;

all APs that have been assigned to the specific USC, a duration that the specific USC was assigned to each AP, and a number of times the specific USC was accessed during each assigned period.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

authenticating the AP as a condition for accepting the USC lease request for processing, wherein the AP is authenticated at least by comparing the AP indicia with an identification value assigned to the AP.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

issuing a lease review request to at least one reviewer entity, wherein each reviewer entity is a wireless carrier (WC) or a network facilitator (NF); and

receiving an acknowledgement of the lease review request from the at least one reviewer entity, the acknowledgement indicating whether the reviewer entity approves or disapproves the assigning of the specific USC to the AP for the specified period of time, wherein the assigning of the specific USC to the AP for the specified period of time is conditioned on a response score meeting a threshold approval value or not exceeding a threshold disapproval value.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

calculating the response score as a weighted total, wherein there are a plurality of reviewer entities, and wherein different weights are applied to the reviewer entities.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

assigning a greater weight to NFs or a particular NF over other reviewer entities.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

assigning a greater weight to a WC that is a predominate WC in an area where the specific USC will be used.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

indicating to the at least one reviewer entity a period in which the reviewer entity can respond to the lease review request.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying one or more entities external to the USC administration entity of the assignment of the specific USC to the AP.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the notifying includes broadcasting information about the assignment to a network facilitator (NF) associated with the USC administration entity.

11. Within a Universal Short Code (USC) administration entity, a processor-based system configured to administer USCs, the processor-based system comprising:

a server configured to;

receive a USC lease request, the USC lease request comprising (1) an indicia of an Application Provider (AP) and (2) a specified period of time;

determine from the USC lease request a specific USC;

determine a current status of the specific USC through at least a lookup against a repository; and

assign the specific USC to the AP for the specified period of time, provided the current status of the specific USC is available, by at least updating the repository to associate the AP indicia with the specific USC.

12. The processor-based system of claim 11, wherein the server is configured to maintain a history of:

all APs that have been assigned to the specific USC, a duration that the specific USC was assigned to each AP, and a number of times the specific USC was accessed during each assigned period.

13. The processor-based system of claim 11, wherein the server is configured to authenticate the AP as a condition for accepting the USC lease request for processing, and wherein the AP is authenticated at least by comparing the AP indicia with an identification value assigned to the AP.

14. The processor-based system of claim 11, wherein the server is configured to:

issue a lease review request to at least one reviewer entity, wherein each reviewer entity is a wireless carrier (WC) or a network facilitator (NF); and

receive an acknowledgement of the lease review request from the at least one reviewer entity, the acknowledgement indicating whether the reviewer entity approves or disapproves the assigning of the specific USC to the AP for the specified period of time, wherein the assigning of the specific USC to the AP for the specified period of time is conditioned on a response score meeting a threshold approval value or not exceeding a threshold disapproval value.

15. The processor-based system of claim 14, wherein the server is configured to calculate the response score as a weighted total, wherein there are a plurality of reviewer entities, and wherein different weights are applied to the reviewer entities.

16. The processor-based system of claim 15, wherein the server is configured to assign a greater weight to NFs or a particular NF over other reviewer entities.

17. The processor-based system of claim 15, wherein the server is configured to assign a greater weight to a WC that is a predominate WC in an area where the specific USC will be used.

18. The processor-based system of claim 14, wherein the server is configured to indicate to the at least one reviewer entity a period in which the reviewer entity can respond to the lease review request.

19. The processor-based system of claim 11, wherein the server is configured to notify one or more entities external to the USC administration entity of the assignment of the specific USC to the AP.

20. The processor-based system of claim 19, wherein the notifying includes broadcasting information about the assignment to a network facilitator (NF) associated with the USC administration entity.