Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02596456 2007-08-08
MOBILE AUDIO CONTENT DELIVERY
SYSTEM
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the delivery of mobile audio entertainment
content.
More particularly, the present invention relates to the electronic and mobile
delivery
of various media content, such as print periodicals and print news articles,
by
converting them into audio format and enabling such content along with other
audio
content to be delivered to consumers over wireless telephone networks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Current research indicates that over 150 million people in the United States
read
magazines and nearly the same amount read newspapers there. All told, these
Americans presently spend about the same amount of money on magazines and
newspapers as they do on movies and video games. While overall media
consumption
continues to grow briskly in the United States, however, readership of
newspapers and
magazines has shown a continued decline as consumers increasingly migrate to
more
on-demand, mobile and interactive options to suit their hectic lifestyles.
Similar
market trends have been identified in other countries and markets throughout
the
world, with electronic media consumption steadily displacing consumption of
traditional print media.
Another identifiable trend is the growth in mobile entertainment services and
technologies that enable consumers to tap into large blocks of their day to
multi-task.
The average person spends many minutes per day commuting alone in their car,
exercising at a gym, waiting in line, or traveling. For example, consumer
technologies
and services that enable consumers to download music onto their cell phones
and then
CA 02596456 2007-08-08
play back that music have shown significant growth over the last few years and
are
projected to continue that growth. Additionally, the recent growth of
podcasting
indicates that consumers are continuing their search for new forms of
innovative
mobile entertainment. It is estimated that more than 6 million Americans have
listened to podcasts, which are recorded audio files of broadcasts, radio
shows,
interviews, and the like, via either computer download or mobile digital music
(e.g.,
MP3 and other digital audio format) players.
While there currently is an extremely high volume of digital print content
(such as
made available by various news agencies or publishers), there currently is no
high-
volume and high-quality platforms that enable such publishers to convert such
content
for audio consumption. Most publishers simply are not capable of, or otherwise
have
not demonstrated the technical expertise, resources, or desire to build the
infrastructure for creating, storing and distributing such audio content at a
large
enough scale to be profitable. It would be advantageous if traditional
publishers could
be provided with a system that may be managed by a third-party which enables
them
to leverage their existing content and format to reach new customers as
digital audio
content suitable for mobile delivery and/or consumption.
Conventional wisdom is that consumer interest in portable music and podcasting
downloading services will continue to fuel the growth of mobile media and
entertainment purchases by consumers. The challenge thus remains, not only to
develop new content suitable for mobile entertainment, but also to develop new
mechanisms for delivering that content to mobile consumers. While portable
digital
media players are capable of storing hundreds of hours of audio files and
video files, it
is nonetheless necessary for the user of the mobile device to "synchronize"
the device
periodically in order to download new material. Typically, this
synchronization
includes attaching the digital media player to a personal computer, and then
downloading content from that computer (or the Internet) to the digital media
player.
Typically, this process requires the user to connect to their computer
physically in this
manner whenever they want new content. Thus, current digital media players do
not
provide true on-the-go and on-demand access to various types of media content.
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While it is estimated that there are over 200 million existing wireless
telephone
service subscribers in the United States, only a small minority of those
subscribers
currently utilize services offered by their mobile telephone service provider
for digital
entertainment media. While certain mobile telephones may allow users to
download
music and other pre-recorded audio content or video content to their telephone
for
simultaneous or later playback, for example, such devices are only currently a
small
percentage of those in service. These service offerings by wireless telephone
service
providers, therefore, have only a small sub-population of potential consumers.
Further, the currently provided content has not tapped into the large stores
of digital
content that are available via other sources, such as the Internet. While many
wireless
customers may be interested in service offerings relating to portable
entertainment,
they may not have the desire to invest in a new telephone or change their
current
service plan to support data transmission in order to gain this capability.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for systems for providing mobile audio
content
delivery services to the large body of potential consumers that utilize mobile
telephones. Particularly, such systems should enable the linking of wireless
carriers,
content providers, and consumers in a manner that permits a high volume of
mobile-
capable audio content to be developed and delivered to a high volume of
consumers
with low implementation barriers to consumers. Additionally, there is also a
need for
such mobile audio content delivery systems to be able to provide a delivery of
digital
entertainment and other (e.g., business, education, reference, etc.) media on-
demand
to various consumers regardless of the type of mobile telephone device that
they have.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In this regard, it is an object of embodiments of the present invention to
provide a
mobile audio content delivery system, including networking platforms and
computing
and communication components, that provides portable content services wherein
entertainment and other content could be downloaded, streamed, or otherwise
played
over any mobile telephone or other mobile handset. In this regard, mobile-
capable
audio content could be delivered using a combination of 2G and 3G voice and
wireless data communication technologies to allow wireless service providers,
content
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CA 02596456 2007-08-08
providers, or other independent entities to offer mobile audio content
delivery services
to their entire subscriber base as opposed to only a targeted subscriber base
required to
have newer or specialized telephone units.
Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile
audio content
delivery system that enables publishers of print media and other content
producers to
reach a broad audience of potential consumers while permitting the targeting
of key
consumers for advertising purposes.
Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a solution
that allows
existing wireless customers to access and listen to audio recitals of current
newspaper
and magazine articles of their choice using their existing mobile telephone.
The mobile audio content delivery system provided in embodiments of the
present
invention enables existing wireless consumers to access original audio content
and
audio content converted from print content regardless of their phone type or
network
affiliation, and does not require users to invest in a new mobile telephone
unit or an
other specialized device in order to access content from their favorite
publications.
Additionally, the systems of the present invention enable a user to multi-task
and
listen to desired mobile-capable audio content in a hands-free and eyes-free
manner.
Thus, users can listen to the content while engaged in other time-consuming
tasks,
such as commuting, exercising, or traveling, and without the user having to
carry with
them a device tasked solely for digital media entertainment (such as a
portable digital
media player). Additionally, the systems in the present invention provide
users with a
familiar interface to the digital media content that utilizes voice commands,
touch-
tone commands, or mobile web "click" commands to navigate among, search,
select,
and, ultimately, consume mobile-capable audio content. In this regard, users
can
select and review the content without learning a new interface or navigation
skills.
Additionally, systems of the present invention place users in control of their
content
by enabling them to identify and/or select articles, stories, or other
publications they
want whenever and wherever they have time to do so. Users, therefore, do not
have to
remember to allocate time in their busy days to stop and synchronize a device
or
download media files well in advance of when they intend to listen to them.
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A mobile audio content delivery system according to embodiments of the present
invention contains three basic elements, a mobile audio content delivery
network, a
wireless communication network, and various content producing inputs (e.g.,
publishers). The wireless communication network has a plurality of subscribers
each
having a mobile communication device (e.g., a mobile telephone). Typically,
the
wireless communication network comprises any type of mobile, or cellular,
telephone
network, and, in particular, the wireless communication network optionally may
be
operated by a service provider that desires to provide their subscribers with
the option
to utilize the services of the mobile audio content delivery network. Thus, it
should
be appreciated that the mobile audio content delivery network and wireless
communication network may operate in partnership, or operate independently of
one
another, to provide mobile-capable audio content services to mobile telephone
service
subscribers. In particular, the system may connect the mobile audio content
delivery
network with various different wireless communication networks to provide a
mobile-
capable audio content service as an independent service to mobile telephone
subscribers of the different wireless communication networks.
The mobile audio content delivery network includes a content acquisition
system that
collects digital print media and digital audio media, and uses automated text-
to-speech
("TTS") transformation tools to convert the print media into synthesized
speech files
"reading" the print content. This converted print content and other audio
content is
stored in a content database, wherein it may later be accessed on-the-go and
on-
demand by mobile subscribers utilizing a multi-modal user interface.
Embodiments of the present invention can be adapted to utilize various
alternative
revenue models for the mobile audio content delivery system. A first such
revenue
model includes a subscription model where subscriber consumers pay a monthly
subscription rate (e.g., collected by the mobile audio content delivery
network) in
order to get access to specific content. In such a revenue model, various
levels of
subscription could be set up so as to provide access to "standard" content for
a first
fee (or for free) and particular areas of "premium" content for additional
and/or higher
fees. A second such revenue model could rely upon advertising revenues. The
cost of
providing the content to the customer by the mobile audio content delivery
network in
CA 02596456 2007-08-08
,
this second model would be supported by advertising revenue being received by
publishers. As explained further herein, a significant feature of embodiments
of the
present invention that utilize advertising revenue model is that the mobile
audio
content delivery network can be designed to allow advertisers to better target
mobile
consumers such that offering those targeting advertising capabilities may be
used as a
way to support the costs of delivering those services and generating profit.
Additionally, it should be understood that when utilizing a revenue model
based upon
advertising fees, the systems optionally may be adapted to employ click-
through or
speak-through advertising, wherein additional fees are charged to advertisers
depending upon whether and how much customers exposed to the advertisements
interact in some way with the advertisement. For example, where an "opt-out"
is
provided for subscriber listeners to bypass an advertisement, advertising fees
could
increase based upon how long, if at all, the average customer listens to a
subject
advertisement. Alternatively, for example, a particular advertisement could be
interactive where it could say, for example, "Press '7' to receive more
information on
this product" which, if initiated by the subscriber listener, would cause a
text message,
email, or other follow up communication to be sent to the user's telephone for
later
review. Subscriber interaction with an advertisement in this manner could
likewise be
used in determining advertiser fees.
Since delivery of audio content in mobile audio content delivery systems
according to
embodiments of the invention utilize cellular telephones that, by their
nature, are
generally associated with a single user (and thus a single target consumer),
tracking of
usage data by the mobile audio content delivery network makes it possible to
draw
conclusions regarding the demographics of particular consumers.
Understandably,
this also makes it possible to target advertisements effectively. If an
advertiser were
to place a print advertisement in an international or national large
circulation print
publication (e.g., Newsweek or Time magazines), it is likely that a large
portion of the
readers of that publication will skip over the advertisement simply because
the
publication has such a diverse audience. The present invention as described
herein,
however, enables content from such large and diverse publishers to be used as
a
vehicle to deliver targeted advertising.
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In this regard, a first aspect of the invention relates to a mobile audio
content delivery
("MACD") system for collecting and converting print media and delivering said
media in the form of audio content to a plurality of subscribers. The MACD
system
includes one or more wireless service provider networks that provide wireless
communication access to the subscribers via mobile devices. The wireless
service
provide network includes a mobile telephone core network. The MACD system also
includes one or more print media input sources that produce the print media,
and a
MACD network in electronic communication with the wireless service provider
networks. The MACD network has a content acquisition subsystem adapted to
collect
the print media from the input sources. This content acquisition subsystem
includes a
content processing engine for transforming the collected print media into
audio
content files. The MACD network further has a content repository database for
storing the audio content files, and means for delivering the audio content
files to the
mobile devices of the subscribers on demand via the wireless service provider
networks. The means for delivering the audio content files includes a multi-
modal
interface that enables the subscribers to use different mechanisms for
browsing,
navigating, and selecting desired audio content files from the content
repository
database and playing back the desired audio content files.
A second aspect of the invention relates to a MACD process for collecting and
converting print media and delivering the media in the form of audio content
to a
plurality of subscribers. This MACD process includes establishing a MACD
network
where that network includes a content acquisition subsystem, a content
repository
database, and means for delivering audio files, and where that subsystem
includes a
content processing engine. The process further includes collecting digital
print media
with the content acquisition subsystem from one or more input sources
electronically.
The collected digital print media are transformed into audio content files
with the
content processing engine, and those files are stored in the content
repository
database. The stored content files are tagged and cataloged in the content
repository
database according to content categories. Also, the process includes receiving
requests from subscribers via a wireless service provider network. The
wireless
service provider networks provide wireless communication access to the
subscribers
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via mobile devices of the subscribers. These requests relate to particular
audio
content files stored in the content repository database. Finally, the process
includes
delivering the particular audio content files from the content repository
database via
the wireless service provider network to appropriate mobile devices for
appropriate
subscribers making the requests. In the process, the means for delivering the
audio
content files includes a multi-modal interface that enables the subscribers to
use
different mechanisms for browsing, navigating, and selecting the particular
audio
content files from the content repository database during the requests.
The various embodiments of the invention having thus been generally described,
several illustrative embodiments will hereafter be discussed with particular
reference
to several attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow diagram depicting a mobile-capable audio content development
and
delivery process according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a mobile audio content delivery system
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a detailed mobile audio content delivery
system and related computing network according to one advantageous embodiment
of
the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a use case for a particular access scenario
that may
be utilized by subscribers according to one particular embodiment of the
present
invention.
FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a use case for another access scenario that
may be
utilized by subscribers according to one particular embodiment of the present
invention.
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FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a use case for yet another access scenario
that may
be utilized by subscribers according to one particular embodiment of the
present
invention.
FIG. 7 is a flow diagram depicting a use case for a typical subscriber
advertisement
experience that may be provided according to on particular embodiment of the
present
invention.
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram depicting a use case for a typical subscriber
interactive
classified advertisement experience that may be provided according to a
preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operations model and related
process
flows and responsibilities for a preferred implementation of a mobile audio
content
delivery system according to embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a combination schematic and flow diagram showing information flows
between various elements of a mobile audio content delivery system according
to
embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A first aspect of the present invention includes a process 100 for developing
and
delivering mobile-capable audio content to subscriber consumers using a mobile
audio
content delivery ("MACD") system of the present invention. The mobile-capable
audio content delivery process 100 can be conceptualized as first having the
MACD
system obtain print media in various digital forms from content producers at
step 110.
Next, at step 120, the content is transformed from print digital media into a
synthesized spoken audio recorded in a digital media format. Preferably, the
majority
and/or all of the content in print digital format is converted via electronic
TTS
technologies that provide automated simulations of human speaking voices
reading
the digital print media. Optionally, of course, real-life celebrity or other
syndicated
readers can alternatively be utilized to record readings of certain print
media into an
audio file. Understandably, however, the celebrity or syndicated readers will
not be
suitable for all situations as they will necessarily insert a lag-time into
the process for
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converting digital print media into digital audio media and significantly
increase costs.
Additionally, the mobile-capable audio content developed in steps 110 and 120
could
be supplemented with other content in forms other than text, such as content
already
in audio and/or video format (pre-recorded radio shows, podcasts, commercial
advertisement announcements, etc.). In this regard, at step 110' the process
100 may
obtain digital audio files (i.e., content already in digital audio forma) for
use by
subsequent steps of the process 100.
As depicted, step 130 then proceeds with the mobile audio content delivery
system
tagging, cataloging, and storing the collected content in appropriate
databases such
that they be later accessed by subscriber consumers as needed. As will be
readily
appreciated by ones skilled in the art, the mobile-capable audio content could
be saved
in a plurality of electronic databases as digital audio files that may be
quickly searched
to access particular content via metadata tags associated with each such
digital file.
Next, at step 140, the process 100 proceeds to deliver the mobile-capable
audio
content to a plurality of subscriber consumers via their own respective mobile
devices
(e.g., mobile telephones). In most preferred embodiments of the present
invention, it
is anticipated that the mobile-capable audio content will be made available
via a
variety of mechanisms. For example, a first mechanism could include an
interactive
voice recognition ("IVR") navigation module (such as is commonly encountered
in
many contemporary telephone help lines) serving as the interface for a
computer-
driven menu system. Additionally, consumers could also be provided with the
option
of utilizing the mobile web capabilities of their device/phone to browse
various menus
to review and select audio content. Similarly, users could be provided with a
third
mechanism for selecting content which takes advantage of various text
messaging
capabilities (such as SMS or MMS messages sent daily to their customer serving
as an
updated table of contents). In using this third mechanism, users may be
provided the
capability to define profiles, such as via a web site Internet portal
associated with the
MACD system, that define the type and timing of such instant messages.
Regardless of how a particular consumer selects a particular piece of audio
content,
that content is thereafter consumed at step 140 by the user through one or
more of a
CA 02596456 2007-08-08
plurality of mechanisms depending upon, for example, the capabilities of the
particular subscriber consumer's mobile device, the limitations of his mobile
telephone service plan, the limitations of mobile network access at his
present
location, and user preferences. For example, a first mechanism for consumption
of
the downloaded digital audio content can comprise playing that content over
the
mobile telephone's voice network during the course of a voice telephone call.
A
second alternative mechanism could include streaming the appropriate audio
content
files via unicast over a data network call to the user. Furthermore, the
selected digital
audio content could be downloaded via a data call or mobile web browsing ,
cached
(or stored), and then played back locally by the subscriber immediately or at
a later
time. Such alternative mechanisms for accessing the content according to
embodiments of the invention, and the system elements for enabling such
mechanisms, are described in further detail below.
Process 100 concludes at step 150 with customer account reconciliation. As
will be
described in further detail below, there are various mechanisms by which a
provider of
such a MACD system can generate revenue from consumer end users accessing
content via the system. Further, it should be apparent that the various
publishers that
ultimately supply the content delivered via the system will want to be
compensated for
the use of their respective content. Additionally, mobile telephone network
service
providers will also want to be compensated for the use of their data networks
(unless,
of course, the subscriber consumers of the MACD service compensate those
mobile
telephone service providers directly, such as by using "minutes" purchased
independently via a service plan in the course of making a voice and/or data
call in
conventional manner to the MACD network). In this regard, step 150 denotes the
tracking, cataloging and reconciling of content use and delivery on a
publisher by
publisher basis and on a consumer by consumer basis in order to reconcile
charges
between the various entities described above.
Understandable, the use of an automated TTS engine to transform digital print
medial
content to audio format will sometimes cause errors to occur in the
transformation.
For example, it is possible that certain words will not be accurately
pronounced (such
as proper names and acronyms). Thus, the transformation at step 120 can
optionally
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include a sub-step comprising a review of the transformed content wherein a
person
listens to the automatically created audio file while simultaneously reading
the
original print source of the content. This person can thereby note and flag
for
correction any apparent errors in the automatically generated audio content.
Turning now to FIG. 2 there is depicted in schematic form an example of a MACD
system 200 adapted to compile and deliver mobile-capable audio content
according to
a first embodiment of the invention. As depicted in FIG. 2, system 200
includes a
mobile audio content delivery network 210 in electronic communication with a
wireless service provider network 230. While not depicted in FIG. 2, it should
be
appreciated that more than one wireless service provider network 230 may be
used in
embodiments of the invention. The wireless service provider network 230 may
be, for
example, any type of suitable mobile telephone network operated by a
commercial
service provider. This service provider could operate independent of the
operator of
the mobile audio content delivery network (i.e., a "MACD service provider"),
or in
partnership to provide its mobile phone subscribers with a service bundling
option to
utilize the services enabled by the MACD network 210. In certain particular
embodiments of the invention, the MACD service provider operates the MACD
network 210 independently of any mobile telephone service provider, and
instead
enables subscribers to its mobile audio content delivery services to access
its content
via any suitable wireless service provider network regardless or the service
provider or
carrier.
For example, wireless service provider network 230 could be any suitable
network as
is commonly used in conventional commercial cellular telephone networks.
Typically, such a network would include a radio access network 232, including
a
plurality of radio communication towers 232a and supporting equipment for
enabling
those towers to communicate with mobile electronic devices 250 (e.g., a mobile
telephone, PDA, etc.) as they move among carious towers 232a arranged into a
cellular network, and core network 234 that provides various features and
services to
the mobile electronic devices in communication with the radio access network.
As
depicted in FIG. 2, any one wireless communication network 230 may be in
communication with one or more mobile devices 250, which mobile devices can
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include any type of mobile device (cell phones, PDAs, etc.) supported by that
network
230.
The core network 234 of the wireless communication network 230 as depicted in
FIG.
2 therefore could include various conventional subsystems found in a
conventional
CDMA, GSM, TDMA, or other types of mobile telephone networks that are used to
provide standard service features to cellular customers. While subsystems
other than
those necessary to achieve mobile telephony voice calls via the network 230
are not
necessary for implementation of embodiments of the present invention as herein
described, many common types of such subsystems would of course likely be
present
in the network 230 of a commercial mobile telephone service provider. For
example,
the core network 234 could include an assisted GPS subsystem, a voicemail
subsystem, and a push-to-talk subsystem although such subsystems provide no
functionality ultimately necessary for mobile audio content delivery according
to
embodiments of the present invention.
It should be appreciated after reading the full description of the invention
herein,
however, that it will be advantageous for the core network 234 to have certain
communication subsystems present in addition to standard telephony subsystems,
which additional subsystems will enable subscriber consumers connecting via
network
230 to be able to use various different mechanisms for communicating with the
MACD network 210. For example, if the core network 234 had a short messaging
service center subsystem ("SMSC"), subscriber consumers having suitably
equipped
mobile devices could utilize text messaging to interact with the MACD network
210
as described below. Likewise, if the core network 234 had a multi-media
messaging
service center subsystem ("MMSC"), subscriber consumers could utilize photo or
video messaging features to interact with the mobile audio content delivery
network
210. A WAP or other mobile wireless networking protocol subsystem would
enable,
for example, mobile web browsing or other data transmissions. In this regard,
it
should be understood that how a particular subscriber consumer interacts with
the
MACD network 210 will be necessarily limited by the capabilities of their
mobile
device 250 and the network services that are available to them at any given
time.
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As depicted in FIG. 2, the MACD network 210 is in communication with various
content sources 240. The content sources 240 could provide printed content
from
publisher websites and RSS feeds from the Internet 240a, print content stored
in
electronic publisher content management systems 240b, content from
professional
bloggers or podcasts 240c, and other content 240d already in audio form (such
as
provided by a publisher, or by advertisers in the form of commercial
announcements).
These various types of content from content sources 240 are communicated to
the
MACD network 210 at various times (such as by daily updates requested by the
mobile audio content delivery network, "crawling" of the Internet, updates
pushed by
the publishers to the mobile audio content delivery network, and the like)
where they
are handled by the content acquisition subsystem 211 of the network 210. In
situations where the newly received content is already in audio format, the
content
acquisition subsystem 211 will recognize this audio material and store and tag
this
content (according to acquisition and processing rules stored in a
configuration
database 214) in an appropriate content database 212. However, where the
material is
in digital text format, a content acquisition engine 211 of subsystem 211
typically will
utilize TTS applications to automatically convert the digital print copy into
a digital
audio file. For example, content acquisition subsystem 211 can utilize the TTS
capabilities of commercially available digital audio content creation tools
such as the
Speechify application commercially offered by Nuance Communications
Incorporated
or other like applications such as those commercially offered by Fonix Speech
Corp.
As audio files are created by the digital audio content creation tools of the
content
acquisition subsystem 211, those audio files are also stored in the content
database
212 and tagged as appropriate. In this manner, the source content database 212
is
built to include a variety of content that would be attractive to a broad
audience of
potential customers.
Understandably, as noted above, if desired digital audio content files can be
created in
conventional form by utilizing an actor or other person to read particular
print content
for recording. Such conventionally created digital audio content would
likewise be
collected, tagged and stored in the content database 212 as dictated by the
various
configuration rules of the configuration database 214.
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,
Also as depicted, content acquisition system 211 would further include a
configuration management and monitoring interface 213 that would enable
administrators to review and monitor content stored in content database 212
and to
assign various configuration rules (to be stored in configuration database
214) that
configure how the TTS tool and other engines of the content acquisition
subsystem
211 collects, processes, tags, stores, and otherwise handles certain audio
content.
Also, newly created files stored in content database 212 could optionally be
reviewed
for transformation accuracy relative to the original print content by an
administrator
tasked with that job using the interface 213. Further aspects, components, and
features of the content acquisition subsystem 211, with databases 212 and 214
being
broken into multiple databases and interface 213 being split into multiple
interfaces
serving various purposes, is described in further detail below with respect to
FIG. 3.
The MACD network also includes means 220 for mobile users to interface with
the
mobile audio content delivery network 210 and browse and retrieve desired
content
from the content database 212. Such means would include an initial service
interface
219 that interacts directly with (consumer generated) requests from the
wireless
communication network 230 and one or more back end components enabling the
particular types of navigation and communication by subscriber consumers.
These
components could include, as depicted, an audio streaming subsystem 217, a web
server subsystem 216, and an IVR telephony interface 215. Browsing and/or
content
requests from subscriber consumers are fed as needed to various different
components
of the MACD network 210. For example, a web server system 216 could be
utilized
to provide multi-channel user interface capabilities with the content database
(such as
when a potential user navigates through content utilizing a WAP wireless web
gateway via a web serving engine 216a or text messaging via a messaging engine
216b as depicted). Additionally, an IVR telephony interface 215 can be
utilized where
a particular mobile user desires to browse and navigate the content repository
utilizing
IVR voice commands over a standard voice telephone call from a wireless
telecommunication network (e.g., network 230). Additionally, the mobile audio
content delivery network 210 could also include an audio streamer system 217
configured to provide audio media content via digital unicasts.
CA 02596456 2007-08-08
=
The particular embodiment of a MACD network 210 as depicted in FIG. 2 also
includes a billing and settlements subsystem 218 that interacts with the
service
interface 219. Subsystem 218 monitors which users (i.e., devices 250) of the
wireless
communication network 230 utilize which content from the content acquisition
subsystem 211 and cross-references that monitored usage with subscriber,
content
provider, and advertiser agreements data stored in agreements database 218a.
The
cross-referencing is used to create usage records and billing notations that
are stored
in a settlements database 218b such that they can be used for billing
reconciliation. In
this regard, appropriate payments can be arranged to content sources 240 and
(depending upon billing arrangements with the end user consumers) bills for
the
various subscriber consumers and advertisers of the MACD network 210 can be
adjusted as appropriate. Similarly, compensation can be determined for the
content
providers in situations where their compensation for use of their content is
variable
based upon the amount of times it is delivered to subscriber consumers.
Turning now to FIG. 3, there is depicted a functional component overview of
another
embodiment of a MACD system 300 according to the present invention. In FIG. 3,
the content flows from the content production stage (at the far left), through
subsequent stages of content acquisition, content preprocessing, information
and
content storage, navigation and delivery, and finally to a consumption stage
(on the far
right) where mobile-capable audio content is delivered to mobile devices 350
of a
subscriber consumer. As with the system 200 of FIG. 2, MACD system 300
contains
three basic elements, a MACD network 310, a wireless communication network 330
(for communicating with mobile devices 350 of end user subscribers as
depicted), and
various content producing inputs 340. It should be understood that FIG. 3
depicts the
MACD network 310 in additional detail relative to FIG. 2 and therefore should
be
considered in conjunction with FIG. 2 as an example of various components and
elements, including multiple databases, engines, and interfaces according to
one
particularly suitable embodiment of the invention, for performing the
particular
functions and providing the particular features described herein.
As shown in FIG. 3, the content inputs 340 can be of various types from
various
different publishers, including print stories/articles or other print content
on
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,
publisher's website 342, RSS ("really simple syndication") feeds 344 of print
media
content, print content stored on legacy content management systems 346 of
publishers, or digital audio content 348 already made by a publisher. RSS is a
standardized form of XML-encoded text commonly used in publication to enable
the
rapid exchange of publication materials in a common electronic format. It
provides
users with a link to a printed publication in electronic format and provides a
title and a
short synopsis. Content management systems 346 are the internal systems used
by the
publishers to store their content. Thus, it is particularly preferred for the
content
acquisition subsystem in embodiments of the present invention to have direct
electronic access to such content management systems and the stored content.
Such
systems often contain, in addition to the information, meta data concerning,
for
example, when the article was written, how many words it has, when it was
first
published, authors, keywords, and the like. Publisher audio based content 348
includes any kind of pre-recorded audio content, including podcasts, clips of
radio
programs, and the like.
Advertiser audio content 360 comprises audio advertisements (similar to radio
advertisements, including traditional 15-second and 5-second spots). Such
advertisements can be sourced from publishers (e.g., where a publisher
requires or
requests that a certain advertisement be run with certain piece of print
content upon
mediacast), or from third party advertisers. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3,
advertiser
content in the form of advertiser digital audio files is also a source of
content that can
be regularly transferred into the content acquisition subsystem of the mobile
audio
content delivery network 310 as described below.
Thus, it should be apparent that content sources can take the form of print
media (e.g.,
newspapers, magazines, and on-line text content), audio content (e.g.,
podcasts, music
(i.e. individual songs, albums or radio programming), and audio from talk/news
radio
and TV programming), location-based information (e.g., weather and/or traffic
reports, restaurant and entertainment listings and guides), email, internet
web logs
(i.e., "blogs"), interactive educational or self-help courses (e.g.,
continuing education,
textbook supplements for college and high school, language learning, and
religious
materials), business/work content (e.g., real-time information (e.g., stock
quotes,
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breaking corporate news), real-time company data (e.g., sales metrics), and
analyst
reports and industry research, and company training courses). Further, in
addition to
traditional publisher content converted into audio mobile-capable audio
content,
embodiments of the present invention could additionally support and distribute
other
types of audio content. Such content can include traffic and weather
forecasts,
enterprise and commercial training and education materials, university
lectures for
students, restaurant entertainment listings and guides, and the like.
As shown in FIG. 3, the media files obtained from the content inputs 340 and
advertiser audio content 360 flow into various elements of the MACD network's
content acquisition subsystem, which, in the particular embodiment depicted
includes
both a content acquisition engine 311a and a content preprocessing engine
311b. In
the content acquisition stage as depicted, the entertainment content is
collected from
the various inputs 340 and advertisers 360. In the network 310 as depicted,
the
collection is a largely automated process undertaken by the content
acquisition engine
311a which collects contents via various mechanisms from various inputs as
dictated
by content acquisition rules stored in a content acquisition database 314a.
The rules in
this database are defined and revised periodically by administrators of the
network
310 using a content processing management interface 313a.
In accord with the preferred embodiments of the invention as depicted in FIG.
3, the
process of the content acquisition subsystem acquiring various types of
content from
various different publishers is a largely automated process. The content
acquisition
engine 311a forms an important part of the content acquisition subsystem, and
is a
computer program that is adapted to identify and collect digital print content
from the
content inputs 340 of participating publishers, and optionally advertising
content 360.
The engine 311a is preferably capable of obtaining new content on a scheduled
"pull"
basis and on an unscheduled "push" basis without requiring significant
interaction by
administrators of the mobile audio content delivery network 310. For example,
new
print content can be downloaded on a scheduled basis (such as from publisher's
websites or content management systems) and converted to a daily feed of
headlines,
or content can be actively submitted by publishers as desired, such as for
breaking
news stories. The operation of engine 311a can be controlled by administrators
of the
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MACD network 310 using interface 313a to define acquisition rules for how and
from
where to collect print and/or audio content, which rules are then stored in
acquisition
engine database 314a where they are continuously available to engine 311a.
Next, in the content preprocessing stage, the media file inputs collected by
the content
acquisition engine 311a flows into the content preprocessing engine 311b. This
content preprocessing engine 311b performs any necessary TTS conversions for
the
content acquisition subsystem, and engine 311b will typically comprise a
commercial
TTS conversion application. The TTS application will communicate with a
lexicon
database 314d to convert digital media print content into audio format
according to
various preprocessing rules contained in preprocessing rules database 314b.
The lexicon database 314d is specifically adapted for the particular TI'S
conversion
application selected, and contains the various sounds, voices, and other
components
that support the translation of print media content into synthesized spoken
audio
content by the content preprocessing engine 31 lb. Additionally, the
preprocessing
rules database 314b is also accessed by the preprocessing engine 311b during
content
preprocessing. Database 314b enables administrators of the mobile audio
content
delivery network 310 to define specific content preprocessing rules relating
to how
certain printed words will be treated by the content preprocessing engine 311b
under
certain circumstances. This, for example, allows augmentation to the lexicon
database
314d for the pronunciation of words on a context-related basis. For a
frequently
appearing but unusual name of an individual, such as the name of a sports star
that
regularly appears in articles relating to sports, the name can have a defined
pronunciation in the rules database 314b. Similarly, a name could have
multiple
pronunciations and the rules database 314b can be utilized by administrators
to define
various context based rules that determine when to use one pronunciation
relative to
the other. Additionally, for example, some acronyms are commonly pronounced
similar in manner to a spoken word while other acronyms are spoken by reciting
the
individual letters making up the acronym. The rules in the preprocessing rules
database could likewise be used to identify such rules on a context-sensitive
basis in
order to provide an audio recording having the most realistic synthetic spoken
recitation of the original print content being processed.
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In this regard, the content preprocessing engine 311b according to preferred
embodiments of the invention has the capability to handle TTS conversions
phonetically on an as-needed basis. The rules database 314b enables the engine
311b
to know whenever it encounters a particular text string whether to utilize a
perfect
word match as defined by the preprocessing rules database 314b or to sound it
out
using the standard rules of the TTS conversion application (defined in lexicon
database 314d) depending upon the type of content (subject area, content
provider
source, etc.) that is being processed.
Content acquisition subsystem of network 310 additionally includes a
processing
management interface (e.g., a front end application for use by administrators)
that
enables users to interact with the scheduling and source database 314a and the
preprocessing rules database 314b. Understandably, while content preprocessing
engine 311b converts incoming print media into synthesized audio media in a
queued
fashion, it may be necessary or desired at times to convert certain print
media into
digital audio media on a faster basis. For example, the processing management
interface 313a can allow administrators of the network 310 to dictate that
certain types
of print content (e.g., breaking news), certain publisher's content, or even
certain
particular pieces of content be given a higher priority for being processed by
engine
311b into synthesized audio. In this manner, for example, current news
articles could
be given a higher conversion priority than classified advertisements, which in
turn are
given a higher priority than archived articles.
Following the content preprocessing stage, the audio media files, including
both
content and advertisements, proceed to information and content storage, as
depicted in
FIG. 3. The various audio media files are stored in either a content
repository
database 312a or an advertisement repository database 213b, where they are
tagged
such that they can be easily accessed, retrieved, and delivered during the
next
navigation and delivery stage. Content repository database 312a is the primary
database of the content acquisition subsystem as it contains all of the
synthesized or
pre-prepared audio content (e.g., WAV files, MP3 files) for synthesized audio
content,
plus any associated meta data for the audio files (e.g., publisher, author,
subject,
CA 02596456 2007-08-08
, .
information). Advertisement repository database 312b likewise contains all of
the
audio files and meta data for the advertising spots.
For configuring the operation of the network 310 during the information and
content
storage stage, a presentation management interface 313b is provided to
administrators
of the network 310. This interface 313b permits the administrator to define
navigation, prompting, presentation, and advertisement insertion rules
(NPPAIR) in a
NPPAIR database 314c, which rules help sort the audio content and
advertisement
files in databases 312a and 312b into readily searchable and accessible
categories to
make content easier to locate for subscriber consumers. Further, database 314c
contains rules for inserting the advertisement content within audio content
during
delivery, as described below, and interface 313b enables MACD network
administrators to set these rules.
It should be apparent that the navigation and delivery stage and consumption
stage are
triggered by activities of individual subscriber consumers. As noted above,
embodiments of the present invention may implement targeted advertising to
generate
revenues for publishers, operators of the mobile audio content delivery
network, and
cellular service providers. Content and advertising repository database 312 is
also
adapted to store and catalog advertising audio files for delivery to users as
dictated by
advertisement insertion rules stored by an administrator in the NPPAIR
database
314c.
In operation, for example, when a subscriber consumer is browsing mobile-
capable
audio content offerings stored in content database 312a (such as by using a
mobile
web application on their cell phone) and sees an article that they want to
listen to they
can then select a link that initiates a telephone call into an IVR subsystem
(denoted
telephony interface in FIG. 3), which forms part of the delivery means 320 of
network
310. That IVR subsystem will automatically identify that the user is browsing
(e.g.,
using a mobile web application) with a particular type of device. In this
regard, the
IVR system may be augmented to establish a multi-modal session going across
multiple machine interfaces for browsers and voice/data calls by pushing the
user
directly into a call for immediate delivery of the requested content. A
subscriber
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consumer therefore is not required to navigate via initial voice navigation
menus upon
initiation of the call into the IVR telephony interface 315, but rather is
taken directly
into delivery of the requested content (or brought to the lowest level voice
navigation
menu to confirm delivery of the requested content).
Additionally and alternatively, a user could use various features of the
system 300 to
configure various short cuts for obtaining the types of content they want. For
example, a user that likes to read the lead articles of a particular newspaper
every
morning (or other type of frequently updated print content), could request
that a series
of text messages get pushed to his or her device identifying recently
published articles
of potential interest. In this regard, one user could get the headlines
delivered for the
politics section of a newspaper while a second user could request to be
notified of any
new articles across a wide variety of publishing sources regarding a
particular topic,
such as business articles on a particular industry of interest. Rather than
having to call
in and begin navigation via the telephony interface from the top level of the
IVR
menu, the user could review their customized content list on his or her device
and then
initiate delivery of interesting content by a single action on their
telephone.
Equivalently, a similar direct navigation approach to bypass the initial IVR
menus of
the IVR telephony interface could be provided through WAP or other forms of
mobile
web. Thus, a user can have ready access to the types of content that they want
to
listen to, and can initiate playing of the content quickly by a simple click-
to-play
operation.
For purposes of illustration, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6 depict different use
cases for
particular access scenarios that may be supported by the multi-modal interface
according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention. Such use cases
are
described below in detail.
The user preferences, as indicated generally above, could be set and changed
by each
subscriber consumer via the user management interface 319. Preferably, this
interface
319 includes a web portal that provides individual password-protected accounts
for
each subscriber consumer once they register to use the MACD service. These
accounts would enable the subscriber consumers to update their preferences
regarding
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content choices , content navigation, and content delivery, as well as account
billing,
and have those preferences stored in a subscriber profile database 316a, which
database in turn is accessible by the various networking elements of the
delivery
means 320. Thus, in embodiments of the present invention a MACD network 310
may also comprise one or more web servers that support this subscriber web
portal to
provide subscriber consumers with a self-service mechanism for updating their
subscription and account information.
For example, a home page could be provided that identifies and describes the
various
types of content, the different publishers, and the different levels of
subscriptions that
are available for premium content. Additionally, if a particular user is
considering
subscribing to a given publisher, he or she can be provided with information
regarding
costs, a free sample of content, and/or an option to update his or her service
agreement
by subscribing to a particular content/publisher or canceling a current
subscription.
Additionally, the web portal may provide a capability to users to review
reports
regarding what content types of content they have recently used, such as a
report
detailing what content from which publishers a given user has listened to in
the
previous month or to configure their profile. Furthermore, users may be
permitted to
configure notification parameters to define what types of articles they want
to receive
instant text message notifications about.
NP PAIR database 314c contains various delivery rules defined via the
presentation
management interface 313b by administrators that define various ways how the
content stored in the content repository database 312a is used. These delivery
rules,
for example, define how all content for a particular publisher will be
organized and
presented to subscribers for navigation. A newspaper publisher may wish for
its
mobile-capable audio content to be presented to subscribers organized in a
manner
that parallels their print presentation of that content. A given publisher,
for example,
in this manner might want its mobile-capable audio content organized by front
page
articles, editorials, sports, life, technology, money, financial, etc. NPPAIR
database
314c also provides any given advertiser with the ability to define delivery
rules that
dictate how advertisements in advertisement repository database 312b are
positioned
with respect to its mobile-capable audio content. In this regard, a particular
publisher
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might request (and a suitable delivery rule would be defined to ensure) that a
first
piece of advertising is run X number of times a second piece of advertising is
to run Y
number of times, but that the first should be run at certain times of day for
a certain
topical area of content while the second is run only to subscribers calling
from a
limited geographic and requesting content from a different topical area. In
this regard,
publishers can accommodate wishes of their advertisers to make certain that,
for
example, medical advertisements are run with content categorized into the
lifestyle or
technology sections, while advertisements for financial services by a
brokerage house
are run with content taken from that publisher's financial section.
In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the navigation and delivery
system
of the mobile audio content delivery network will not only insert
advertisements into
delivered content (such as placing a selected ad before a requested article
while
providing the user with the chance to "opt out" of listening to the entire
advertisement
by the pressing of a key on their keypad), but will also track advertisement
information and content usage information to increase the effectiveness of the
advertising using an analytics engine within the delivery means 320. The
analytics
engine 3 automatically tracks to what types of content particular subscriber
consumers
frequently listen and stores that information user demographics information
within or
otherwise associated with subscriber profile database 316a so that that usage
information may be analyzed to increase the effectiveness of advertising. The
demographics information thus identifies which subscribers access what
content,
when they accessed it, and what portions they listened to so as to provide
multidimensional analyses to advertisers and publishers that report how many
customers listen to advertisements of a certain type, or placed along certain
types of
content, the frequency of "click-through" or "speak-through" interactions with
advertisements, etc.
In this regard, the information collected and stored in the subscriber profile
database
316a of the MACD network 310 would enable conclusions to be drawn regarding
the
types of information, products, and services that would be of high interest to
a given
user. By tracking what kind of mobile audio content delivery content to which
a given
user listens one can make educated guesses regarding whether a user is
interested in
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sports, home care, politics, and the like. Understandably, such information
could also
provide insight into a particular subscriber's gender, income, and age. Such
information, as described elsewhere herein, will allow advertisers to target
particular
advertisements specifically at users in conjunction with or independent of
demographic (or geographic) information provided by the cell phone company.
Furthermore, whenever a subscriber is interacting with their mobile phone for
accessing mobile audio content delivery content, it will be possible to know
exactly
when they're calling and (with cooperation of their cellular provider) roughly
where
they're calling from. This makes specific geographic targeting of advertising
possible.
For example, it is conventional for movies studios to launch heavy promotions
of new
movies in the week before they actually launch. If, for example, a given movie
debuts
nationally on a Thursday, heavy print, radio and TV advertising would be
reserved for
Monday through Wednesday of that week). Additionally, however, many movies
have a staggered debut date, wherein the launch first in certain limited
places (like
New York city and Los Angeles) a few days before they go into wide release.
The
ability to target advertisements according to the present invention on both a
temporal
and geographic basis can allow studios to concentrate mobile audio content
delivery
advertising only to those people in the New York and Los Angeles area codes
during a
given time period.
Also as depicted in FIG. 3, mobile audio content delivery network 310 includes
an
accounting and settlements interface 318 that enables administrators to
generate and
provide reports from the settlements database 316b. These reports could be
produced
regularly, such as at the end of the month, to participating publishers,
advertisers
and/or wireless service providers summarizing the number of subscribers to the
mobile audio content delivery over the last month, the number of
advertisements run,
etc., and generates invoices requesting payments according to service level
agreements
for the advertisements, usage agreements, and content arrangements. Publishers
and
advertisers will find such reports helpful as they will describe how many
subscribers
consumed particular types of content, how many click-throughs/speak-throughs
were
experienced with given ads. Publishers could also utilize such reports to set
expectations for revenue sharing for upcoming months, and operators of the
mobile
CA 02596456 2007-08-08
audio content delivery network could utilize such reports to justify charges
to
publishers and/or advertisers.
Understandably, publishers as well as the advertisers may operate jointly or
separately
with regard to associating advertisements with content. In this regard,
established
publishers can rely upon their existing advertising relationships to schedule
advertisements for their content presented in the mobile audio content
delivery format.
A publisher could dictate what content gets configured for mediacast delivery
and
what exact advertisements get paired with particular mobile-capable audio
content.
Alternatively, where there are a significant number of publishers cooperating
on a
single mobile audio content delivery network, multiple publishers and/or a
mobile
audio content delivery service provider may collectively approach advertisers
directly
for cultivating group advertisement relationships specific to the mobile audio
content
delivery content area. Publishers then don't have to go out and manage
advertising
relationships. Of course, in such situations it would be expected that
publishers
and/or advertisers would still place restrictions preventing associations with
certain
advertisers, certain content areas, etc., allowing publishers and advertisers
to opt-in
and opt-out with respect to with whom they deal.
Turning now to FIG. 4, there is depicted a flow diagram depicting a sample
process
400 by which a subscriber consumer according to one particular embodiment of
the
present invention could interact with an IVR telephony interface of a MACD
network.
In process 400, the subscriber consumer is using the handsfree feature of his
mobile
telephone at step 410 (such as with a Bluetooth or wired headset), and places
a regular
voice telephone call to a telephone access number associated with the MACD
service
at step 420. This telephone call connects the consumer to the IVR telephony
interface
of the MACD network, which prompts the consumer with audio commands to speak
certain navigation commands at step 430 to identify and select appropriate
content and
to begin playback, as reflected in sample script 430'. The consumer thereafter
listens
to the selected content at step 440, and the user terminates playback either
by using
present IVR interface commands (e.g., "stop playback") or by hanging up at
step 450.
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FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a second sample process 500 by which a
subscriber
consumer according to one particular embodiment of the present invention could
interact with a mobile web (e.g., WAP) interface of a MACD network via their
mobile
device. Process 500 begins with the subscriber consumer navigating using the
WAP
browser of their mobile telephone at step 510 to a mobile web portal
associated with
the MACD service. The consumer browses at step 520 menus of available content,
makes various menu choices, and eventually selects one or more desired audio
files.
At step 530, the consumer is prompted after making the content selection(s) to
select
how they want to receive the content (i.e., download, stream, playback via
voice call,
etc.). The consumer thereafter listens to the content at step 540 in the
manner dictated
by the selection at step 530.
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a third sample process 600 by which a
subscriber
consumer according to one particular embodiment of the present invention could
utilize the subscriber web portal to simplify audio content selection and
playback. At
step 610, the subscriber consumer logs in to his personal account on the MACD
service's web portal and configures content preferences, including the
identification of
certain types of content for which he desires to receive notifications. At
step 620, the
consumer later receives a text message on his mobile telephone from the MACD
service. This text message provides links (such as mobile web URL addresses
that
link directly to a content page) for each content file that meet the criteria
preset by the
consumer. Next, at step 630, the user uses the links to select desired
content, which,
for example, could automatically launch the mobile web client of the
consumer's
mobile telephone and direct it to a particular URL for the selected content or
a specific
URL for the consumer. Alternatively, as depicted in FIG. 6, the mobile
telephone
could initiate a voice or data call to the MACD network at step 640, which
call is
automatically detected by the MACD network and causes immediate playback of
the
associated content.
For purposes of further illustration regarding how advertisements can be
integrated
with audio content playback, FIG. 7 provides a flow diagram depicting a sample
advertisement process 700 that may be provided according to a preferred
embodiment
of the present invention. Process 700 starts at step 710 with the audio
content
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playback being initiated by the subscriber consumer (such as according to the
voice
call mechanism illustrated above in FIG. 4). The IVR telephony interface
announces
the sponsor immediately prior to audio content playback at step 720 using a
pre-
recorder advertisement announcement script 720'. During playback of script
720', the
user at any time may say "skip ad," which command will transition the consumer
immediately from listening to the advertisement (step 730) to listening to the
selected
article (step 740). If the consumer listens to the entire advertisement at
step 730
without saying "skip ad," then playback of the selected article begins (step
740).
Further, as depicted in FIG. 7, at any time during playing of the
advertisement, the
consumer may use one or more IVR interface voice commands to request
additional
information regarding the advertisement (such as via text message or email),
or follow
up on the advertisement by, for example, placing e-commerce orders.
One other preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes classified
advertisements in a mobile-capable audio content format. Such classified
advertisements according to such preferred embodiments of the present
invention
provide a capability for the consumer to search classified advertisement
listings on the
go while also being able to interact with classified advertisements of
interest. For
purposes of illustration, FIG. 8 provides a flow diagram depicting an
interactive
classified advertisement process 800 that may be provided according to a
preferred
embodiment of the present invention. Process 800 utilizes the example of
someone
looking for a new rental home, and begins with a subscriber consumer entering
a
classified advertisement section of the MACD service at step 810, such as by
using
the IVR telephony interface. Once they have navigated to the classified ads
content
via the IVR portal, the consumer is prompted by the IVR interface to speak
into his
classified advertisement query at step 820 (such as by prompt script 820'). At
step
830, the consumer replies verbally with his search parameters, for example
describing
his need for a rental home in northwest Washington, DC having a maximum rent
of
$2,000 (as reflected in reply script 830'). The IVR interface would then
interact with
a classified advertisements search engine at step 840 to parse the verbal
search
parameters perform a search for classified advertisements for rental homes
meeting
that qualification and then begin to read them back over the telephone.
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Understandably, this search could access a variety of online databases in real
time.
Once the search is completed, at step 850, the IVR interface provides a
summary of
results (such as by reading summaries of each match as shown in results script
850').
and enables follow up by the subscriber. Subscribers could use voice commands
such
as "next," "back," "repeat," "delete" or "save" to sift through the search
results. Also,
for example, if the user wanted more information on a given advertisement, he
or she
could respond at step 860 by speaking a request for follow up actions or
information
(see response script 860' in FIG. 8).
Another advantageous feature of certain preferred embodiments of the present
invention is that a newspaper publisher, for example, may often do reviews of
restaurants and movies. Understandably, such reviews form suitable print
content that
can be converted into mobile-capable audio content like many other topical
areas of
print content. However, such reviews in particularly preferred embodiments of
the
invention can also be made interactive in much the same manner as classified
advertisements are. Upon navigating to and listening to a review of a specific
restaurant, for example, if the user wanted to make a reservation they could
speak
voice commands to electronically explore reservation availabilities and make
reservations for the restaurant (if the particular restaurant participates in
such
electronic or online reservation services), to have the restaurant's telephone
number
sent to them as a text message for later follow up, or to have their phone
call
forwarded to the phone number for the restaurant to make the reservation in
conventional fashion.
Similarly, such preferred embodiments of the invention may allow subscribers
to link
from a review of a concert or some other kind of an event (e.g., a movie), or
even if
it's not a review but rather a listing of a concert or an event, to an e-
commerce
ticketing capability for that same event.
In various embodiments of the invention, it is possible that users will be
required to
utilize their cell phone minutes to access to mobile audio content delivery
service
unless agreements are made between the operator of the mobile audio content
delivery
network and the cell phone service provider network. In an alternative
embodiment,
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agreements could be established with cellular telephone service providers such
that a
subscriber's cell phone minutes are not being used and then, of course, there
would be
billing and settlement features associated with it. The particular arrangement
chosen,
of course, can vary on implementation to implementation and, optionally, even
on a
user by user basis.
Furthermore, in other alternative embodiments of the present invention, the
mobile
audio content delivery network can optionally include speech-to-text ("STT")
capabilities integrated within the IVR menu options. When such STT
capabilities are
included, it would be possible for users to dial into the mobile audio content
delivery
network via their mobile device and record voice messages which are then
converted
into text by, for example, a commercial STT software application. In this
manner, the
mobile audio content delivery network would be able to be used by registered
users as
a means for converting audio notes into text messages that can be stored on
their
telephone (or received at a preset time in the future as dictated by the
user). Such
functionality could be useful for the preparation of, for example, shopping
lists and
other reminders.
Turning now to FIG. 9, there is depicted an operations model 900 that depicts
the
various process flows and responsibilities for advertisers 910, publishers
920, the
MACD network 930, and the wireless service provide network 940 according to
embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, each entity (e.g.,
910-
940) has its own set of responsibilities that it fulfils (represented by the
bullet point
items within each entity), and provides various information, deliverables and
requests
to other entities (represented by the labelled information flow arrows). FIG.
10 is a
combination schematic and flow diagram that further illustrates these
information
flows between various entities that interact in the mobile audio content
delivery
system.
As shown in FIG. 10, MACD system 1000 connects one or more subscriber
consumers 1050 who have mobile devices adapted to communicate via the networks
of one or more wireless network service providers 1030 with the MACD network
operated by the MACD network service provider 1010. The MACD network service
CA 02596456 2007-08-08
provider 1010 in turn deals directly with content providers and advertisers
1040. In
FIG. 10, the various arrows between entities 1010-1040 distinguish between
information exchanges relating to content collection, production, and delivery
(solid
arrow lines), and information exchanges relating to support functions, such as
billing
and usage data (dotted arrow lines).
As depicted in FIG. 10, the content providers and advertisers 1040 interact
only with
the MACD service provider 1010 by providing content (flow 1100d) in the form
of
text or audio media. In exchange for the content, the content providers
receive
payment for use of the content (flow 1100a), and the advertisers make payments
for
placement of their announcements (flow 1100b). Further, the MACD service
provider
1010 could provide periodic advertisement impact analyses, customer data, and
other
such financial reports (flow 1100c) to the advertisers.
Various flows also connect the wireless network service providers 1030 with
the
MACD service provider 1010 as shown in FIG. 10. In particular, the MACD
service
provider 1010 delivers mobile-capable audio content (flow 1100j) and submits
customer billing data (flow 1100m) to the wireless network service providers
1030,
while it in turn simultaneously collects customer usage data (flow 1100k) and
receives
payments for use of the MACD services (flow 1100n) from the providers 1030.
Finally, the subscriber consumers 1050 interact with the wireless network
providers
1030 in various ways. As shown, the subscriber consumers 1050 select, receive
and/or listen to mobile-capable audio content (flows 1100i and 1100h) via the
wireless
network service providers 1030, and receive and pay invoices relating to usage
of the
wireless network (flows 1100f and 1100g). The MACD service provider also
provides various customer care functions (flow 1100e) to the subscriber
consumers, as
depicted.
Various processes and methods described herein may be implemented using
software
stored in the memory for execution by suitable processors. Alternatively, the
mobile
devices and/or servers may implement such processes and methods in hardware or
a
combination of software and hardware, including any number of processors
independently executing various programs and dedicated hardware, such as
31
CA 02596456 2015-01-07
application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate
arrays
(FPGAs), and the like.
Having described preferred embodiments of the invention it will now become
apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments
incorporating
these concepts may be used. Although the invention has been described and
illustrated with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the
present
disclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in
the combination and arrangement of steps or orientation of parts can be
resorted
to by those skilled in the art. The scope of the enclosed claims should not be
limited by the embodiments set forth in the description but should be given
the
broadest interpretation consistent with the specification as a whole.
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