MXPA99006738A - A method relating to telephone communications including the transmission of advertising messages - Google Patents

Abstract

A method relating to telecommunications wherein a call is connected between two subscribers, wherein the call is billed to a third subscriber, wherein the telephone of a first subscriber is connected to the telephone of a second subscriber via a standard telephone network, wherein the first subscriber dials a subscriber number, preferably preceded by a prefix, that leads to the third subscriber and dials a subscriber number that leads to the second subscriber, wherein the telephone network is caused to connect the call to a telephone network connected computer unit (4) that forwards the call to said second subscriber such as to connect said first subscriber with said second subscriber, and wherein the call between the first and the second subscriber is billed to the third subscriber, wherein advertisements are transmitted on the call connected between the first and the second subscriber. The invention is characterized in that when one of the first and the second subscribers enters a code or the like through the keypad of the telephone concerned during an ongoing call, said computer unit (4) is caused to sense said code;in that when sensing the code, the computer unit is caused to interrupt transmission of advertisements during the course of the call;and in that the computer unit is caused to bill the remainder of the connected call in accordance with fixed telephone charges.

Description

"A METHOD RELATED TO TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS INCLUDING THE TRANSMISSION OF ADVERTISING MESSAGES" The present invention relates to a method related to telecommunications where a call is connected between two subscribers and the call is billed to a third subscriber, and where the announcements are transmitted during the course of the call. Swedish Patent Number 9403793-4 discloses a method for sending and billing a telephone call where a telephone of the first subscriber is connected to a telephone of the second subscriber through a normal telephone network. The normal telephone network can be either a fixed network or a mobile telephone network. In accordance with this patent specification, a call connection is established because the first subscriber dials a prefix followed by a number of the subscriber leading to a third subscriber and then dials a number of the subscriber leading to a second subscriber. This procedure results in the establishment of a connection between the first and second subscribers, while the third subscriber is billed for the call between the first and second subscribers. The prefix and the number of the subscriber causes the telephone network to connect the call through the telephone network with a computer unit connected to the network of the third subscriber. The prefix also causes the computer unit to send the call to the second subscriber through the computer unit, in order to connect the first subscriber with the second subscriber. In accordance with the aforementioned patent specification, the computer unit is caused to transmit the advertisements or advertising media at determined time intervals through the duration of the connected call between the first and second subscribers. For example, a chain of hamburger restaurants or a chain of petrol stations may transmit during the course of the call connection the announcements related to the sales offers or the campaign in progress. In this case, the first subscriber is not invoiced for the call to the second subscriber or is only invoiced for a part of the call, while a company or an organization is able to announce its activities to the first and second subscribers. A problem with the call connections of this class is, of course, that the broadcast messages interrupt the conversation maintained by the people involved, while the announcement is transmitted. This can be very annoying for people who do not want to be constantly interrupted in this way. This situation can occur when a subscriber uses the possibility of telephoning in an exempt manner, establishing a connection with a second subscriber in an installation where the announcements are transmitted but where the second subscriber has something important to say or discuss or when the call has been developed along lines where the people involved no longer wish to be interrupted by advertising messages. The present invention solves this problem. The present invention is therefore related to a method relating to telecommunications where a call is connected between two subscribers, where the call is invoiced to a third subscriber, where a first subscriber telephone is connected to a telephone of the second subscriber through a normal telephone network, wherein the first subscriber dials a number of the subscriber, preferably preceded by a prefix, which leads to the third subscriber and dials a number of the subscriber leading to the second subscriber, wherein the telephone network it is caused to connect the call with a telephone network connected to the computer unit (4) that sends the call to the second subscriber in such a way as to connect the first subscriber with the second subscriber, wherein the call between the first and second subscribers the third subscriber is invoiced, and wherein the advertising or announcements or similar messages are transmitted in the connection of the call between the first and second subscribers. The method is characterized in that when one of the first and second subscribers admits a code or the like through a keypad of the related telephone during the call in progress, the computer unit 4 is caused to detect the code; since when detecting the code, the computer unit is caused to interrupt the transmission of the announcements during the course of the call; and in that the computer unit is caused to invoice the rest of the connected call in accordance with the fixed telephone rates. The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment thereof and also with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a schematic functional view illustrating an arrangement for carrying out the present method. Figure 1 illustrates the provision of the invention for sending the invoice of a telephone call, wherein a telephone 1 of the first subscriber is connected to a telephone 2 of the second subscriber through a normal telephone network, generally with the number of reference 3.

A third subscriber has a computer unit 4 that connects to the telephone network 3. The computer unit 4 is adapted to detect a prefix marked by the first subscriber and followed by a number of the subscriber leading to the third subscriber. The third subscriber can have a local telephone exchange a switching center 5 in which the computer unit 4 is connected. The telephone exchange 5 can be adapted to connect the incoming calls with the computer unit in response to the detection of the prefix. When the prefix is detected, the computer unit 4 functions to send the call through the telephone network, to a number of the subscriber dialed by the first subscriber after the subscriber number mentioned first and which leads to a second subscriber, to connect to the first subscriber with the second subscriber. The telephone network 3 is also adapted to bill the connected call between the first and second subscribers with the subscription of the third subscriber when the prefix is detected. In this regard, the entire cost of the call can be billed to the third subscriber or alternatively only a part of the cost, and the rest of the cost can be billed to the calling subscriber. The prefix is conveniently detected in a telephone exchange or switching center of a telephone station 6 belonging to the telephone network for billing purposes. In the announcements are transmitted in the call connection between the first and second subscribers at different time intervals. In this regard, the computer unit 4 is placed in communication with a database 7 containing the advertisement or advertising material. The database 7, or certain other database, includes a plurality of advertising messages in the form of records on data media. These advertising messages are appropriately classified in an appropriate order. For example, advertising messages can be classified according to the age, sex, earnings and home district of the respective subscribers. The computer unit is caused to collect the advertising messages from the database in a predetermined order and transmit to these messages in the call connection. Since the telephone numbers of the first and second subscribers will reveal the districts where the subscribers live, the computer unit is able to collect the advertising messages that are local with respect to the areas or districts where the two subscribers are located. The subscribers can also be classified in another database or in the same database, where the profile of each calling subscriber that has a subscription with the third subscriber is stored. In this regard, the computer arrangement can be adapted to collect the advertising messages that suit the respective profiles of the related subscribers and transmit these messages to that subscriber. The prefix may consist of the subscriber number of the third subscriber or certain other number to a code that includes the star character and / or the square character. Both the subscriber number and the prefix can be numeric or alphanumeric or consist only of letters. In accordance with the present invention, when one of the first and second subscribers admits a similar code through the related telephone number board during the course of the conversation, the computer unit is caused to detect this code. The code can be any appropriate code such as the code * 99 *, that is, including the star character or square character or only one or more digits. According to the invention, the computer unit causes it to stop transmitting the announcements during the rest of the conversation when it detects this code. The computer unit is then caused to invoice the rest of the call, in accordance with the pre-established rates.

The call can either be billed to one of the subscribers by the telephone operator whose telephone network was used for the call, or one of the first and second subscribers can be billed by the third subscriber. In the first case, the computer unit will supply a signal to the telephone operator's network and with it will cause the telephone operator to start counting the call in a conventional manner for a time, after which the billing is done in a manner normal through the telephone operator to which the related subscriber is subscribed. In the latter case, the computer unit is caused to start a time account after which the third subscriber bills the subscriber according to a certain rate. This would appropriately require an agreement of the subscriber between the subscriber and the third subscriber. It is preferred that only that part of the call that is exempt from advertising is billed. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the computer unit is caused to invoice the calling party after detecting the code. In accordance with an alternative mode, the computer unit is caused to invoice the subscriber who dials the code in his telephone, after detecting this code. Therefore, in this mode, it is the subscriber who wishes to interrupt the transmission of the announcements that will be billed for the call. According to a preferred embodiment, when one of the first and second subscribers again admits a similar code through the related telephone numeric keypad during the course of the call, the computer unit is caused to detect the code and, in response to detecting it. the code, causes it to transmit again the announcements in the call connection. This means that the transmission of an announcement can be prevented during a certain part of the call. When an announcement is transmitted again on the call connection, the computer unit is caused to invoice the third party for the continuous call through the duration of the transmission of the announcement. Although the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications can be made. For example, it will be evident that the codes can be configured in different appropriate manners. It will also be evident that the admission of the code detected by the computer unit can be followed by voice messages. For example, after detecting the aforementioned code that stops the transmission of announcements, the computer unit may cause that I send a voice message for the effect that "The call is billed to the calling subscriber as of now". It will therefore be understood that the invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment described above and that modifications can be made within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (4)

CLAIMS:

1. A method related to telecommunications where a call is connected between two subscribers, where the call is invoiced to the third subscriber, where the telephone of a first subscriber is connected to the telephone of a second subscriber through a normal telephone network , wherein the first subscriber dials a number of the subscriber, preferably preceded by a prefix, which leads to the third subscriber and dials a number of the subscriber leading to the second subscriber, wherein the telephone network is caused to connect the call with a telephone network connected to the computer unit (4) that sends the call to the second subscriber in such a way as to connect the first subscriber to the second subscriber, and where the call between the first and second subscribers is billed to the third subscriber, in where the announcements are transmitted in the connected call between the first and second subscribers, characterized in that when one of the first and second subscribers admits a similar code e through the numeric keypad of the related telephone during the ongoing call, the computer unit (4) is caused to detect the code; and in that when the code is detected, the computer unit is caused to interrupt the transmission of the announcements during the course of the call; and in which the computer unit is caused to invoice the rest of the connected call in accordance with the charges of landlines.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized by causing the computer unit (4) to invoice the subscriber who subsequently calls the code.

3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the computer unit (4) causes the subscriber to admit the code, subsequent to the detection of the code.

4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that when one of the first and second subscribers again admits the similar code through the numeric keypad of the related telephone during the course of the call, the computer unit (4). ) causes it to detect the code and, in response to the detection of the code, it is again caused to transmit the announcements in the call connection; and in that the computer unit (4) causes the third party to be invoiced for the continued call through the duration of the transmission of advertisements. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method related to telecommunications where a call is connected between two subscribers, where the call is invoiced to a third subscriber, where the telephone of a first subscriber connects to the telephone of the second subscriber through a normal telephone network , wherein the first subscriber dials a number of the subscriber, preferably preceded by a prefix, which leads to the third subscriber and dials a number of the subscriber leading to the second subscriber, wherein the telephone network is caused to connect the call with a telephone network connected to the computer unit (4) that sends the call to the second subscriber in such a way as to connect the first subscriber with the second subscriber, and where the call for the first and second subscribers is billed to the third subscriber, in where the announcements are transmitted on the connected call between the first and second subscribers. The invention is characterized in that when the first and second subscribers admit a similar code through the numeric keypad of the related telephone during a call in progress, the computer unit (4) causes it to detect the code; in that when the code is detected, the computer unit is caused to interrupt the transmission of the announcements during the course of the call; and in that the computer unit is caused to invoice the rest of the connected call in accordance with the fixed telephone charges.