WO2003034699A1

WO2003034699A1 - A system and method for accessing services

Info

Publication number: WO2003034699A1
Application number: PCT/IL2002/000787
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eldad Cohen
Original assignee: Cellcom Israel Limited
Priority date: 2001-09-30
Filing date: 2002-09-25
Publication date: 2003-04-24
Also published as: IL145707A; IL145707A0

Abstract

A method for enabling a user of a cellular communication device (210) to access added value services, through a communication network (200) (e.g. a cellular telephone network ) .The user accesses through the cellular telephone network a first service, which has a unique access code. The user is provided with a collection of available added value services, which are customized to the user. The user selects an added value service from among the collection of available added value services and is provided with access to the selected service. The user can repeat selecting a service and accessing the selected service as many times as desired.

Description

A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACCESSING SERVICES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to added-value services provided by telecommunication network service providers, for example, cellular network service providers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As is well known, telecommunication service providers support basic telephone services between their subscribers and other users.

Telecommunication service providers also support added-value services such as voice mail services; information services, such as the weather, business, news etc.; call management services, call answering services and so on.

Typically, a user may access such an added-value service by dialing a pre-defined access code, for example *25 for traffic updates, *80 for an answering service, * 123 for a service provider helpdesk, etc. By dialing the pre-defined access code, the user initiates the process handled by the service provider system from which the requested service is launched. Generally, this process includes the establishment of a communication link between the user and a remote server via the service provider's operator.

Generally, each service is provided by a different server and uniquely identified by the user by a pre-defined access code. Thus, the user receives from the service provider a list of services with their corresponding access codes.

As the number of added-value services has increased, it has become more difficult for the common user on the one hand to recall all the various access codes he/she requires for everyday use, and on the other hand, a typical user uses no more than two or three of the available services due to his/her lack of knowledge of other available services. Thus, the full potential of the service provider system is not accomplished, and a typical user does not utilize all the services he/she is entitled to or has optional access to. In the context of wired communication systems, it is known to offer the user a portal or a gateway to access the various services. For example, an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system is a gateway to call center services.

Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a user with an efficient and easy way to access the wide variety of added value services being offered by his cellular service provider without the need to recall all the corresponding access codes.

In addition, there is a need to customize the variety of added value services according to the user's profile.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the invention provides, in a cellular telephone network that supports added value services, a server supporting a first service accessed through the cellular network by a unique access code, the server being configured to perform the following:

(i) identifying an end-user communication device accessing the first service through the cellular telephone network using the unique access code to thereby establish a communication link with the end-user communication device;

(ii) accessing a database for retrieving a collection of available added value services customized according to the identified end user communication device; (iϋ) transmitting said collection to the identified end-user communication device through said cellular telephone network;

(iv) receiving a selection of an added value service from among said collection of added value services; (v) establishing a communication link between the end-user communication device and a server supporting the selected service to thereby enable access to the selected service;

(vi) selectively performing operations (ii) to (v) as many times as desired. According to an embodiment of the invention, server is configured to perform preliminary registration and setting of the customized collection of available services.

According to another embodiment the invention, the preliminary setting includes a selection of a collection of services from a set of possible collections of available added value services.

According to yet another embodiment the invention, the preliminary setting includes providing the user with a set of added value services, and the user selecting one or more added value services from among the set to constitute the customized collection. According to another embodiment the invention, the preliminary setting includes the determining of characteristics of the customized collection. According to the invention,

step (v) includes establishing through the network a communication link between the end-user communication device and a second server supporting the selected service to thereby enable access to the selected service wherein the server that supports the first service is able to receive instructions transmitted from end user communication device while said device is linked to said second server.

According to an embodiment of the invention, said server is configured to perform an additional step for enabling the modification of said collection of services. According to another embodiment of the invention, said server is configured to perform an additional step for enabling the change of said first service.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, said operation (v) includes establishing through the network a communication link between the end-user communication device and a second server supporting the selected service to thereby enable access to the selected service wherein the server that supports the first service is able to receive instructions transmitted from the end user communication device while said device is linked to said second server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates, schematically, a generalized system architecture in accordance with the prior art;

Fig. 2 illustrates, schematically, a generalized system architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 illustrates a sequence of operations in an exemplary scenario as performed by the user and the system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 4 illustrates a partial database, with few data records, that is used in a system according to an embodiment of the invention. DET AILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Fig. 1 illustrates, schematically, a generalized system architecture 100 in accordance with the prior art. Fig. 2 illustrates, schematically, generalized system architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The network 100 of Fig. 1 supports added value services 120, which are generally implemented on different servers and uniquely identified by the user with a pre-defined respective access code, such as *1, *2, etc.

According to the prior art, as described in Fig.l, the user dials a selected access code through his/her cellular communication device 110 and establishes a communication link via the cellular network 100 with one of servers 120. Thus, for accessing a specific service, the user needs to recall the specific access code, say *2. Generally the user receives from the service provider a list of all access codes and their corresponding available services. As specified above, typical users commonly utilize only 1-3 services from among the variety of proposed services. As shown in Fig. 2, according to an embodiment of the invention, the user dials an access code, say *1, on his cellular communication device 210, and a communication link is established through the network 100, with a server 230 (that supports the service that is accessed through access code *1) for accessing a specific service. Note, that for convenience, the server that supports the service that is accessed through access code *I is designated as "server *I".

Reverting now to the specific service (say, * 1), it may be, e.g. the most frequently used by users of the network (e.g. voice mail service identified by access code *1). This would naturally result in that most users would recognize and remember this code and therefrom pick the desired added service (say through menu selection). This however is not necessarily the case and the specific service 230 can be any other service available to users of the network, possibly customized to each subscriber. Put differently, there may a first user whose access service 230 is identified by access code *1 and another user whose access service 230 is identified by a different access code. Having established communication with Server *1, the latter identifies the user by his/her end-user communication device and accesses the database for retrieving the collection of available added value services customized according to the identified end user communication device. The database and customization procedure will be described with reference to Fig. 4.

After retrieving the customized collection of available added value services, server 230 transmits said collection to the identified end-user communication device through said cellular telephone network and receives from the user a selection of an added value service of interest from among said collection of added value services. For example, if the collection of customized services includes a traffic update (*2), news, (*11) and sport update, (* 12) conveyed to the user in the form of a voice menu, the user picks the one he/she is interested in, say, by dialing *2 (traffic), thereby obviating the need to remember the unique access code for each added value service, as is the case with hitherto known systems of the kind described with reference to Fig. 1.

Then, server 230 establishes a communication link with device 210, and a server *2, supporting the service identified by access code *2, thereby enables the user to access the selected traffic service.

While device 210 is linked to server *2, server * 1 230 is able to receive instructions transmitted from device 210. Such instructions may be, for example, to end the communication link, or to re-transmit the collection of services etc. It should be noted that server * 1 230 may transmit the full collection of services or a subset of the collection, for example, excluding those services previously accessed during that session. It should be noted that the system is not bound by the specific architecture of Fig. 2. Thus, by way of a non-limiting example, a few services may reside in the same server, and the actual server machine through which a connection is made (e.g. server * 1 for accessing added service * 1), may be dynamically changed, all as required and appropriate. Moreover, whereas for convenience of explanation the end-user communication device illustrated in Fig. 2 is a cellular telephone, the invention is not bound by this specific example, and accordingly other end-user communication devices such as Personal Digital Assistance PDA with wireless dialing capability may be utilized.

If desired, the user can access directly selected added value services, using their respective, unique access codes. This is normally applicable when the user remembers the code of the service of interest.

By a modified embodiment, the system according to the invention also enables the user to access selected services not only through the cellular network, but also through the Internet. Reference is made now to Fig. 3 illustrating a sequence of operations in an exemplary scenario as performed by the user and server *1 of Fig. 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Thus, the user dials *1, thereby accessing through the cellular telephone network a service having a unique access code - server * 1 230 of Fig. 2. The server * 1 identifies the end-user communication device (step 300) and accesses a database for retrieving a collection of available added value services customized according to the identified end user's communication device (step 310).

It should be noted that the customization characteristics are typically retrieved from a database, as will be explained in greater detail with reference to Fig. 4. Reverting now to Fig. 3, server *1 transmits said collection to the identified end-user communication device through the cellular telephone network (step 320).

The user dials *2, thereby selecting service *2 to be accessed.

Server *1 receives the selection (step 330) and establishes a communication link between the end-user communication device and server *2 to thereby enable the user access to the selected service (step 340).

The user operates service *2.

During the server *2- session, server * 1 maintains all communication links for enabling the user to dial a predefined code, "#" for example, in order to terminate server *2 at any time and return to server * 1. The user may choose to "hang up" and end his/her call. If the user dials #, then server * 1 again performs steps 310 to 340, i.e., it accesses a database for retrieving the customized collection of available added value services and transmits said collection to the identified end-user communication device through said cellular telephone network. It should be understood that the user may dial # as many times as desired.

Reference is now made to Fig. 4, which illustrates a partial database 40 (forming part of possibly larger database), with few data records, that is used in a system according to an embodiment of the invention. It should be understood that the invention is not limited to this specific structure and/or contents f the database of Fig. 4. In the specific example of Fig. 4, the customization data are indexed according to the key field "end user communication device" (41).

For each end-user communication device, there is an indication of the customization type, as shown in data field 2 (42). More specifically, the user can select a predefined collection of services, suited to his needs. Such predefined collection may be, for example, a business collection of services particularly relevant to business persons, e.g., content services such as stock rates, news, etc.. Another example is a collection of services relevant to teenagerssuch as games, entertainment information, etc. More generally, the user is provided with a set of possible collections of available added value services, and the user selecting a collection from among said set to be the customized collection.

According to another embodiment, the user is provided with a set of added value services, and the user selecting one or more added value services from among the set to constitute the customized collection.

Note that the customization of the collection of services may be handled in a preliminary step of registration and setting and/or on-the-fly.

The customized collection of services may be time dependent, i.e., the user may select a specific service to be available for him/her during specific time intervals. For example, the user may select a game service to be available only after school hours. According to yet another embodiment of the invention, said preliminary setting step includes a selection of one or more characteristics of the collection of the added value services. For example, the user may choose to receive said collection as a menu of selections, say, in the form of a voice menu. By way of another example, the user is able to select the menu interface to have either a male or female voice, or presented in a specific style, such as a menu that includes music.

In the example of Fig. 4, device 123456 (45) is registered, but does not allow for setting a customized collection of services ("none" in filed 2 - (46)), and would thus receive from server * 1 the full collection of available services.

Device 234567 (47) is assigned to the business collection, and will thus receive those services previously assigned to the business collection (48) - services * 1, *2, *7 in data field 3 (49). By one embodiment, the setting of the business collection is determined by the service provider so the user is not free to add or delete a specific service from the predefined collection. However, the user is able to change his/her selection and to select a different pre-defined collection or a personalized collection.

Device 345678 (51) is assigned to a personalized collection (52) which includes those services specifically chosen by the user - services * 1 and *5 (53). Data field 4 (44) represents the time-dependent associates to each selected service. As shown, * 1 is available for device 234567 all day long, as indicated by the "none" value- 54), while service *7 is available only between 08am - 08pm (as indicated by the value 08am-08pm - 55).

It should be noted that the invention is not limited to identify the customized collection of added services by the end-user communication device, and accordingly other means for identify the collection of customized added value services may be utilized.

It should be noted, generally, that the invention is not bound by the customization characteristics described with reference to Fig. 4 and accordingly, some of the specified characteristics may be modified or deleted and/or others may be added, all as required and appropriate.

The present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, but those versed in the art will readily appreciate that various alterations and modifications may be carried out without departing from the scope of the following Claims:

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method for enabling a user to access added value services, through at least a cellular telephone network, comprising :

(i) the user accessing through the cellular telephone network a first service having a unique access code;

(ii) providing to the user a collection of available added value services customized to the user; (iii) the user selecting an added value service from among said collection of available added value services and is provided with access to the selected added value service; and

(iv) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) as many times as desired.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said first service being any service from a pre-defined set of services.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2 further comprising the step of enabling the user to access directly through the cellular telephone network a selected added value service, according to its respective unique access code.

4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims enabling the user to access an added value service also through the Internet.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the first service is integrated with a voice mail system.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the first service is the most frequently used service among the added value services.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims further comprising a preliminary registration step that includes customizing said collection of available added value services to the user.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the customization step includes: providing the user with a set of possible collections of available added value services, and the user selecting a collection from among said set to be the customized collection stipulated in said step (ii).

9. A method according to claim 7 wherein the customization step includes: providing the user with a set of added value services, and the user selecting one or more added value services from among the set to constitute the customized collection stipulated in said step (ii).

10. A method according to any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein the preliminary registration step includes determining characteristics of the customized collection.

11. In a cellular telephone network that supports added value services, a server supporting a first service accessed through the cellular network by a unique access code; the server is configured to perform at the following: (i) identifying an end-user communication device accessing the first service through the cellular telephone network using the unique access code to thereby establish a communication link with the end-user communication device; (ii) accessing a database for retrieving a collection of available added value services customized according to the identified end user communication device; (iii) transmitting said collection to the identified end-user communication device through said cellular telephone network; (iv) receiving a selection of an added value service from among said collection of added value services;

(v) establishing a communication link between the end-user communication device and a server supporting the selected service to thereby enable access to the selected service; (vi) selectively performing operations (ii) to (v) as many times as desired.

12. A server according to claim 11 wherein the server is configured to perform preliminary registration and setting of the customized collection of available services.

13. A server according to claim 11 or 12 wherein the preliminary setting includes a selection of a collection of services from a set of possible collections of available added value services.

14. A server according to claim 11 or 12 wherein the preliminary setting includes providing the user with a set of added value services, and the user selecting one or more added value services from among the set to constitute the customized collection.

15. A server according to any one of claims 11 to 14 wherein the preliminary setting includes a determining characteristics of the customized collection.

16. A server according to any one of claims 11 to 15 wherein the server is further configured to change said collection of services on the fly.

17. A server according to any one of claims 11 to 16 wherein the server is configured to enabling change of said first service.

18. A server according to any one of claims 11 to 17 wherein step (v) includes establishing through the network a communication link between the end-user communication device and a second server supporting the selected service to thereby enable access to the selected service wherein the server that supports the first service is able to receive instructions transmitted from end user communication device while said device is linked to said second server.