Patent Application
20050261009
The present invention relates to a method of encouraging use of a mobile communication network and an advertising system.
Generally, mobile phone network operators charge users per minute for phone calls and per message for SMS (short message service) messages. Therefore, revenues are tied to subscribers' needs and desires to engage in communication using their mobile phones. These needs and desires are generally determined by factors beyond the control of the network operator, for instance who a subscriber knows or is related to.
An object of the present invention is to bring subscribers into relationships in which they wish to communicate using their mobile phones or the like.
According to the present invention, a method of encouraging use of a mobile communication network, the method comprising:
Thus, the present invention can make subscribers aware that there is value in their communicating with each other. As a side effect, the network traffic increases and the network operator obtains an increase in revenue.
The message may be received in a short message service message, in a speech telephone call, an email, via web page form or by any other way.
In most embodiments, a plurality of messages will be received and their contents broadcast, for example in cell broadcast messages.
The messages may be received as short message service messages.
The network connections are conveniently speech-carrying channels, i.e. channels adapted for speech traffic.
The received message or messages may be analysed to ensure that only messages whose content is appropriate are broadcast. The received messages may also be classified and transmitted in cell broadcast channels selected on the basis of their classifications.
The messages may be advertisements. The advertisements are conveniently like the small advertisements found in local newspapers.
According to the present invention, there is also provide an advertising system comprising:
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The small advertisement administration system 5 may be implemented in an SMSC (short message service center) of the mobile phone network.
In the following, it is assumed that the subscriber associated with the first mobile station 2 has registered with the small advertisement administration system 5, either by sending an SMS message to a particular number or completing paper or electronic registration forms.
Referring to
The advertisement placement SMS message is received by the small advertisement administration system 5, step s1, and is then, vetted step s2, and classified, step s4. The vetting may be performed by a human operator or automatically by suitable software, which may operated in a similar manner to spam filtering software. The advertisement is classified according to its subject, e.g. “electronics”, “cars”, “furniture”, etc., and/or whether it is a “for sale” advertisement or a “wanted” advertisement. The aim of the vetting is to ensure that the advertiser is registered by reference to the database 5b and that the advertisement is legally and socially acceptable, and to ensure that the advertisement is transmitted in the correct channel.
If the advertisement is not acceptable in step s2, a rejection SMS message is sent to the would-be advertiser, step s3.
When an acceptable advertisement has been classified, step s3, the telephone number of the advertiser, obtained from the database 5b or the advertisement placement SMS, is added to the text of the advertisement placement SMS, step s5. The placing of the advertisement is then confirmed to the advertiser in an SMS message, step s6. The extended text is then stored in the database 5b, step s7.
Referring to
Advertisements are given a predetermined lifetime and are deleted from the database 5b when their lifetimes have expired.
Referring back to
The present invention has been described with reference to SMS messages and cell broadcast messages. However, it will be appreciated that other approaches may be adopted. For example, the WAP push could be used to deliver advertisements to subscribers. Also, the delivery of advertisements could be restricted to users who are registered as willing to receive such advertisements.
In other embodiments, the advertisements may be placed by making a speech call to a call center, sending an email or by means of a form in a web page to provide the advertisement text and information identifying the advertiser's mobile phone, e.g. the phone number or the subscriber's name or account number, instead of by sending an SMS message.
In the foregoing, terminology appropriate for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile phone networks has been used. However, this is not intended to be limiting and the skilled person will understand that different terms may be applied in respect of other systems for equivalent functions.
The skilled person will appreciate that other modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims.
