Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TELEPHONE CALL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AND
INTERNET MARKETING METHOD
s
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to telephone call management devices and
Internet marketing methods. More particularly, the present invention relates
to a
1 o telephone call management computer program that provides call management
services
and discounted long distance rates for consumers and marketing and advertising
services for sponsor companies that wish to advertise their products and
services to
users of the program.
1s 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Long distance telephone service consumers typically select a single,
primary long distance carrier such as AT&T, MCI, or Sprint for all of their
long distance
calls even though less expensive rates are available from these very same
carriers and
other lesser known carriers. Consumers may bypass their primary long distance
carriers
2 o by dialing the PlC code of another carrier in front of the normal
telephone number, but
most consumers either don't know about this option, can't remember the PIC
codes for
any of the different long distance carriers, or don't have the time and
expertise to
continually shop for the most competitive tong distance rates. A similar
problem is
expected to arise in the future if de-regulation of the local telephone
service industry
25 allows consumers to select their local access providers.
Many telephone consumers also purchase expensive telephone options
such as call-waiting, caller ID, speed dial, call forwarding, call blocker,
anonymous call
rejection, and auto redial, from their telephone service providers and are
often required
to purchase equipment such as caller ID boxes to use with these services.
These
3 o additional services cost the telephone companies very little to provide;
however,
consumers often pay steep monthly fees for the services. Despite the high
costs, these
enhanced services do not provide database management capabilities such as
allowing
consumers to create easily edited personal phone books and extensive listings
of
incoming calls.
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In a related industry, the ever-increasing popularity and use of the Internet
has created tremendous marketing potential for companies wishing to advertise
and sell
their products and services on the world wide web. Indeed, hundreds of
thousands of
websites have already been created in efforts to reach consumers, and tens of
s thousands more are being created weekly. However, this tremendous growth and
use
of the Internet has cluttered it and made it increasingly difficult for users
to locate desired
websites and for companies to attract consumers to their sites.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves the above-described problems by providing
a unique call management software program that combines the technologies of
telecommunications, personal computing, and the Internet to provide both call
management features and long distance savings to consumers and marketing and
advertising services to sponsor companies that wish to advertise their
products and
1s services to users of the program. That is to say, the call management
program and
Internet marketing method of the present invention (1 ) permits consumers to
automatically make long distance phone calls at discounted rates without
memorizing
numerous PIC codes or continually shopping for the best long distance rates,
(2)
provides the consumers, free of charge, many of the same enhanced telephone
calling
2 0 options that they previously had to pay for as well as additional, more
powerful calling
options, and (3) provides sponsor companies with a dramatically more effective
way to
place messages and advertisements in front of the consumers as they use the
program.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
2 s A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail
below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical computer and
telecommunications network that may be used to implement the present
invention;
Fig. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the primary steps performed by the
3 0 operator of the host computer to initially set up the method of the
present invention;
Fig. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the primary steps of the registration
and
setup of the call management program of the present invention;
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Fig. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the primary steps performed when a
user places a telephone call using the call management program of the present
invention;
Fig. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the primary steps performed when a
s user accesses the Internet using the call management program of the present
invention;
and
Fig. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the primary steps of the calendar
features of the call management program of the present invention.
to DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to Fig. 1, the present invention is preferably implemented with
a computer network 10 including a host computer 12, at least one billing
computer 14
operated by a long distance carrier, a plurality of Internet website server
computers
16,18 and/or telephones 20 operated by sponsor companies wishing to advertise
and
i s sell their products and services to consumers, and a plurality of user
computers 22 (only
one shown) that may be used to access the host computer, the long distance
carrier
computer, and the sponsor companies' computers and phones. The computers are
all
linked by a communications network 26 that handles Internet traffic.
The host computer 12, billing computer 14, and website server computer
20 16,18 may be any conventional microcomputers, minicomputers, or mainframe
computers such as those manufactured by IBM, Sun, or Digital Equipment
Corporation.
Each of these computers includes memory, input and output ports, and a network
connection and is programmed with conventional www server operating software
for
receiving, storing, retrieving, and transmitting data over the Internet as
well as software
2 s described below for implementing the steps of the present invention.
The user computers 22, which are preferably personal computers such as
IBM compatible microcomputers having Intel Pentium or equivalent-type
microprocessors, each include a modem, memory, input and output ports, and a
network
connection and are also programmed with conventional www server operating
software
3o for receiving, storing, retrieving, and transmitting data over the
Internet, Each user
computer is preferably operated by Microsoft Windows 95 or equivalent
operating
software, is configured to have access to an Internet search engine such as
Yahoo, and
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includes a web browser program such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Windows
Explorer and software for implementing the steps of the present invention as
described
below.
At least one telephone 24 is connected to the phone port of the modem of
s each of the user computers 22, and the modems are in turn connected to the
Internet
as illustrated. Additional phones and devices having microprocessors may also
be used
with the present invention as described below.
The communications network 2fi is a conventional telecommunications
network that carries Internet traffic and that includes a plurality of
switches 28 and local
1 o exchange carriers 30. The network may also be a local area network, wide
area
network, wireless network, voice network, or any other conventional
communication
network capable of providing communication between the various computers
illustrated
in Fig. 1.
The call management program of the present invention is designed to be
15 stored on the host computer 12 and then downloaded to the user computers 22
as
described in more detail below. The program may be written in any conventional
language that is compatible with Windows operating software; however, it is
preferably
a modified version of a commercially available call management program such as
Intellect sold by the Clearwave Company of Ft. Collins, Colorado.
2 o The cal! management program is configured to operate with the operating
system of the user computers 22 to provide many of the calling options
provided by
telephone service providers along with additional, more powerful database
management
features. In more detail, when combined with a standard caller ID service, the
call
management program of the present invention provides: (1 ) visual and audible
signals
2 s of incoming calls; (2) personalized rings that may be selected for
different incoming
calls; {3) re-dialing of the last dialed number; (4) storing of all incoming
phone numbers
for later call back; (5) the entry and display of 40 or more speed-dial
numbers; (6)
blocking of selected incoming calls; (7) the creation of personal phone books
of
hundreds of numbers; and (8) the addition of incoming phone numbers to the
personal
3 o phone books.
In accordance with the present invention, the call management program
also "front-loads" a PIC code of a particular, pre-selected long distance
carrier or a
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similar code for a pre-selected local access provider in front of all numbers
that. are
dialed using the program's speed dial or phone list functions. To this end,
the five or six
digit P1C code of a selected long distance carrier or local access provider is
stored in
memory of the host computer 12 so that it can be downloaded to the user
computers 22
and accessed by the call management program. The program "front-loads" the PIC
code whenever a user makes a long distance call or front-loads a similar code
for a local
access provider whenever a user makes a local call from the personal phone
list or
speed dial list of one of the user computers. The program then transparently
connects
the call via the long distance carrier or local access provider associated
with the PIC
1 o code, i.e., without requiring the user to remember andlor enter the PIC
code. The PIC
is preferably stored in a separate file in the host computer 12 and the user
computers
22 that can be changed easily so that the operator of the host computer can
periodically
contract with different long distance carriers as described in more detail
below.
The program also includes a calendar function that permits users to enter
the dates of personal events and holidays such as birthdays, anniversaries,
nations!
holidays, appointments, etc. The program monitors the clock and calendar of
the
computer 22 and then displays reminders of the entered dates before the actual
dates
of the events. The program preferably continuously compares the dates entered
for the
events in the calendar to the computer's clock and calendar and then displays
daily
2 o reminders of the events beginning approximately two weeks before each
event. The
program allows users to disable the reminders at anytime.
In accordance with the present invention and as described in more detail
below, companies wishing to advertise to users of the call management program
may
sponsor the program by paying to have banners and other advertising downloaded
to
2 5 the user computers 22 along with the call management program. This enables
the
operator of the host computer 12 to provide the call management program to
consumers
free of charge. The sponsor companies may also select sound files such as .wav
files
selected from Windows 95 to accompany the opening and closing of their
banners.
The sponsor companies also select dates, key words, URL addresses, and
3 0 other triggering events and entries that will be used to trigger the
display of their banners
on the user computers 22. Once downloaded and installed on the user computers
22,
the call management program displays the banners and other advertising only
after
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certain consumer activities. For example, a sponsor company that sells
balloons or
flowers may elect to have its banners pop up directly on the user computers
along with
the reminder for birthdays, anniversaries, etc., provided by the calendar
function
described above. This ensures that the banners are popped-up at the exact
moment
s when consumers are reminded of their personal events and therefore
considering
purchasing items.
The program may also monitor the entry of keywords into search engines
and the entry of URL addresses into the browsers of the user computers 22 and
then
compare these entered keywords and URL addresses to the keywords and URL
to addresses selected by the sponsor companies. When a match is found, the
program
displays the corresponding banners. This displays the banners directly on the
user
computers before the users connect to the Internet or complete a phone call.
Alongside the banners, the program also preferably displays a dial-through
button that allows users to automatically call the sponsor company associated
with the
15 banner and a click-through button that allows users to automatically
connect with the
company's website. If a user clicks one of these buttons or otherwise selects
to be
connected to the sponsor company, the program automatically connects the user
via the
selected connection option so that the users can immediately contact the
sponsor
companies at the exact moment that they are considering making a purchase.
2 o Alternately, the host computer 12 may act as a proxy server so that when
the users
attempt to visit a sponsor company's website or call a sponsor company the
communication is first routed through the host computer and then connected to
the
sponsor company. This permits the user computers 22 to automatically transmit
tracking
information described below directly to the host computer 12 each time
consumers
2 s access a sponsor company's website or make a phone call to a sponsor
company from
one of the user computers.
To permit the operator of the host computer 12 to bill the sponsor
companies for referrals, the call management program also either maintains a
consumer
database that tracks and records each time a user contacts one of the sponsor
3 o companies through tine dial-through or click-through connection options or
automatically
transmits the information to the host computer each time a user contacts one
of the
sponsor companies. This allows the operator of the host computer to match the
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connections to the sponsors' on-line and telephone orders so that the operator
can bill
the sponsor companies based on the number of times that consumers contact the
sponsor companies through the call management program. The program also tracks
and records the exact identity of the users.
s The information in the consumer database may also be used to provide
the operator with valuable marketing information. To this end, the program
monitors the
types of sites accessed and the frequency of telephone calls and Internet
connections
to create a marketing profile for each of the users. The information in the
consumer
database is periodically uploaded from the user computers 22 to the host
computer 12
1 o and distributed to the sponsor companies as described in more detail
below. Alternately,
the user computers 22 may automatically transmit this type of information
directly to the
host computer 12 each time consumers access a sponsor company's website or
make
a phone call to a sponsor company from one of the user computers.
To allow sponsors to periodically update their banners and to allow the
15 operator of the host computer to periodically provide different PIC codes,
the call
management program is provided with an expiration feature that requires the
users to
re-register the program at pre-selected intervals. The program preferably
expires
approximately every month.
The implementation of the method of the present invention is best
2 o understood with reference to the flow diagrams in Figs. 2-6. As
illustrated in step 200
of Fig. 2, the operator of the host computer 12 first contracts with one or
more long
distance carriers that are willing to provide a block of discounted long
distance calling
time. The operator then enters the P!C code(s) of these long distance carriers
into a file
on the host computer that can be read by or imported into the call management
2 s program. The operator also contracts with various sponsor companies that
wish to
display banners and other advertising on the user computers as depicted in
step 202.
The call management program and the banners are then loaded into the host
computer
as depicted in step 204.
Consumers are then encouraged through conventional advertising and
30 other means to access the host computer 12 and download the call management
program as depicted in 300 of Fig. 3. A large number of consumers are expected
to
access the host computer to receive the call management program because the
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program is free and provides many desirable telephone options that consumers
previously had to pay for (along with additional, more powerful options). Use
of the
computer program to make long distance calls will also reduce the consumers'
phone
bills because of the discounted long distance rates made available by the
front loaded
s PIC codes.
Once a consumer has connected to the host computer 12, the computer
displays introductory messages and instructions and prompts the entry of
registration
information as depicted in steps 302 and 304. The requested registration
information
includes information that is used to check the credit of the user and may also
include
1 o profile information such as the sex, marital status, and income level of
the consumer and
other demographic information that may be useful to the sponsor companies.
During registration, consumers are also asked to consent to viewing
advertising from the sponsor companies during their use of the call management
program.
The host computer 12 then connects to the billing computers 14 of the long
distance carrier to obtain credit approval for the consumer as depicted in
steps 306 and
308. If the consumer's credit is approved with the long distance carrier, the
host
computer registers the consumer's phone number with the carrier as depicted in
step
310 so that the consumer will receive the discounted long distance rates and
so that the
2 0 operator will receive credit for the consumer's use of the long distance
carrier. Once a
consumer has been registered, the call management software and the sponsors'
banners are downloaded to the consumer as depicted in steps 312 and 314.
If the consumer contacted the host site to re-register or re-download the
computer program, step 31fi uploads the consumer database described above from
the
2 5 user computer to the host computer. Alternately, the host computer 12 may
act as a
proxy server as described above so that the user computers 22 automatically
transmit
the consumer database information directly to the host computer 12 each time
consumers access a sponsor company's website or make a phone call to a sponsor
company from one of the user computers.
3 o Finally, the consumer is prompted to set up the call management program
and to create his or her speed dial lists, phone books, calendars, etc., as
depicted in
step 318.
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Fig. 4 illustrates the primary steps performed by the call management
program when a consumer makes a phone call from a user computer 22. The
consumer
first selects a phone number from his or her dialer, speed-dial list or
personal phone
book as depicted in step 400. In step 402, the program determines whether the
selected
s phone number is a long distance toll call. If it is not, the program
connects the local or
toll-free long distance call as depicted in step 404 and then loops to step
412. If the call
is a long distance toll call, step 406 displays a notification to the consumer
that the call
will not be placed through the consumer's regular long distance carrier. The
consumer
may disable this notification after it is first displayed so that subsequent
phone calls do
1 o not trigger the notification.
The program also allows the consumer to change his or her primary long
distance carrier to the carrier associated with the pre-selected PIC code as
depicted in
step 408. If the user elects to change long distance carriers, the program
sends an e-
mail notice to the host computer 12 to effect the change.
1 s The program may also provide instructions to the consumer on how to use
the PIC code with other phones not connected to the computer 22. The present
invention may also be used to load the PIC code in any type of microprocessor-
based
device such as a "smart phone".
The program next front-loads the pre-selected PIC code in front of the
2 o selected long distance toll call or the code for pre-selected local access
provider in front
of the selected local call and connects the call as depicted in step 410.
While the calls
in steps 404 and 410 are being connected, the program may also select and
display
banners and connection options. If the consumer clicks on one of the
connection
options before the call has been completed, the program can be configured to
2 5 disconnect the call and instead connect the consumer to the sponsor
company via the
selected connection option.
After the calls and/or Internet connections have been completed, step 414
captures and stores the connection information in the consumer database or
automatically transmits this type of information directly to the host computer
12. If the
3 o program is near its expiration date, step 416 prompts the consumer to re-
register the
software as described above.
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Fig. 5 illustrates the primary steps performed by the call management
program when a consumer uses his or her Internet browser andlor search engine.
The
program monitors the keywords and URL addresses entered by the consumer and
compares them to the keywords and URL addresses selected by the sponsor
companies
s in steps in 500 and 502. If a match is found, the program selects and
displays the
banner or banners that correspond to the entered keywords and/or URL addresses
along with connection options as illustrated in steps 504 and 506. If the
consumer clicks
on one of the connection options, the program connects the consumer to the
sponsor
company as illustrated in step 508.
1 o Afterthe calls andlor Internet connections have been completed, steps 510
and 512 capture and store the connection information in the consumer database
or
automatically transmits this type of information to the host computer 12 and
prompt the
consumer to re-register the software as described above.
Fig. 6 illustrates the primary steps performed by the calendar feature of the
1.5 call management program. The program periodically compares the dates of
the events
entered into the calendar to the computer's clock and date and displays
reminders of the
events as illustrated in steps 600 and 602. The program also selects banners
that relate
to the events and displays the banners and connection options alongside the
reminders
as illustrated in step 604. If the consumer clicks on one of the connection
options, the
2 o program connects the consumer to the sponsor company as illustrated in
step 606.
After the calls andlor Internet connections have been completed, steps 608
and 610 capture and store the connection information in the consumer database
or
automatically transmits this information to the host computer 12 and prompt
the
consumer to re-register the software as described above.
2 s From the foregoing, it should be apparent that the present invention
provides a unique calf management software program that combines the
technologies
of telecommunications, personal computing, and the Internet to provide both
call
management features and long distance savings to telephone consumers and
marketing
and advertising services to sponsors of the program. Specifically, the call
management
3 o program permits consumers to automatically make long distance phone calls
at
discounted rates without memorizing numerous PIC codes and without continually
shopping for the best long distance rates and provides the consumers, free of
charge,
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many of the same enhanced telephone calling options that they previously had
to. pay
for as well as additional, more powerful calling options.
Additionally, the display of the sponsor companies' banners during use of
the call management program allows the sponsor companies to more effectively
market
s their goods and services to telephone and Internet users. Because the
banners are
triggered by specific consumer activities and popped-up at the exact moment of
purchase receptivity, they are more likely to elicit favorable responses.
Moreover,
because the banners are displayed directly on the user computers 22 before the
consumers connect to the Internet or complete a phone call, they are separated
from the
1 o thousands of other banners and advertisements on the Internet.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the preferred
embodiment illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is noted that
equivalents may
be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of
the
invention as recited in the claims. For example, although in the preferred
embodiment
1 s the banners and other advertising provided by the sponsor companies are
downloaded
to the user computers 22 along with the call management program, the banners
and
advertising may also accompany other types of downloaded software programs and
files
such as graphics programs, news-reporting services, etc. The important aspect
of the
banners and advertising is that they "ride-along" with some type of program,
data, or
20 other information that consumers will be encouraged to download from the
host
computer 12.
Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, what is
claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the
following:
