WO2004066648A1

WO2004066648A1 - Telecommunications services apparatus and methods

Info

Publication number: WO2004066648A1
Application number: PCT/GB2004/000218
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jeffrey Wilson
Original assignee: Intellprop Limited
Priority date: 2003-01-20
Filing date: 2004-01-20
Publication date: 2004-08-05
Also published as: EP1586207A1; GB0301203D0

Abstract

In a text message processing system, an SMS router (2) recognises from specific characteristics of a text message that the message is to be processed by the apparatus, other text messages being passed for normal delivery such as by an SMSC (4). The recognised text messages are processed by a message processing means (3) so as to extract an alphanumeric identifier from the body of the message, this identifier representing a desired delivery destination. The identifier is translated to an email address by means of a database or lookup table, and the processed message is converted to an email format and delivered via an email gateway (5) to the translated email address. A reply to the email can then be delivered by a reverse process to the original sender's mobile terminal.

Description

TELECO3V1MUNICATIONS SERVICES APPARATUS AND METHODS

This invention concerns the field of telecommunications and in particular the areas of mobile telephone networks and messaging, specifically relating to telecommunications services apparatus and methods.

Text messaging is established as a popular and effective means of communication for users of mobile telephones. The Short Message Services (SMS) of the GSM mobile telephony system provide an example of such a text messaging facility, and support for the composition, transmission and reception of Short Messages is present in the majority of GSM mobile terminals. Text messaging requires alphanumeric entry using the standardised Man Machine Interface (MMI) of the mobile handset, and also requires that the message be addressed to the desired recipient. The destination address for the message may typically be specified either by entering a Mobile Station ISDN number (MSISDN) that is the mobile telephone number of the desired recipient, or by selecting an entry from the handset's address book that already has the desired MSISDN pre-programmed in. The address book normally provides the MSISDN by using alphanumeric look-up of a name.

The SMS mechanism was originally defined for mobile to mobile text messaging, but has been extended to permit communication between mobiles and fixed entities in the network known as SMS Hosts. SMS Hosts are typically used for receiving the results of SMS voting events, or transmitting messages such as football results in bulk to users who subscribe to a premium service, for example. SMS Hosts are responsible for an increasing proportion of SMS traffic.

One of the features of SMS is that an identifier corresponding to the sender's identity is normally transmitted to the recipient. It may not be optionally withheld by the sender. Exceptions to this include certain specialised services which may be offered by an operator, such as chat or dating whereby an alternative or temporary Calling Line Identity (CLI) is presented to the recipient, permitting reply but obscuring the originator's identity. Apart from such exceptions, the CLI is normally sent and may be displayed in the form of an MSISDN, although most handsets will translate this to an alphanumeric name if there is a corresponding MSISDN entry in the handset's address book. This provides ease of recognition of the sender, without the recipient having to remember telephone numbers. The mobile CLI feature is analagous to the CLI facility available on fixed networks. Another benefit of receiving CLI is that a reply to the message is more easily achieved, without having to explicitly specify the return address. The MMI for mobile handsets in GSM defines "Reply" as a standard feature.

It is known for a mobile subscriber to be able to send a text message from a mobile handset and to have the message delivered as an email to a specified email address. However the syntax for specifying the email address on the mobile handset is cumbersome and slow, and hence the facility when offered by a network is relatively little used. A further disadvantage of this arrangement is that the user must know in advance the desired destination email address. Although the domain name of many companies can be guessed, the complete email address of a company department that is able to handle messages or queries sent by email is generally not guessable.

An additional complexity of such SMS to email services is that the reply path requires a correlation mechanism. When a message is originated from an email address and delivered to a mobile telephone, it is desirable that the mobile user should be able to reply to the sender using the SMS Reply function of the handset's MMI. To do this the CLI field of the original message delivered to the handset must contain a valid reply address. Since this can be either an MSISDN number or an 11 character alphanumeric string, it is not generally possible to directly store an email address there. Consequently the network must maintain a correlation mechanism. A special CLI value is generated and sent to the mobile handset with the message. The network stores the CLI value and the corresponding sender's email address. When the user replies, the special CLI is used as the destination address. This address causes the text message to be directed to the network's SMS to email gateway, where the corresponding destination email address is looked up and substituted. UK Patent Application No. 0229777.8 (followed by a corresponding PCT application) discloses how short form alphanumeric SMS addresses can be algorithmically translated to full addresses for common domains. For example

One of the main barriers to growth in communication between individuals and organisations using current mobile messaging techniques is that the user must first know the telephone number or email address of the organisation concerned. In general this may be difficult to achieve for the mobile user, possibly requiring the cumbersome and expensive use of a directory service first.

It is an aim of at least an embodiment of the present invention to overcome this difficulty by allowing the user to communicate by using the name of a brand, product or service, or of an organisation, as the means of addressing the appropriate destination. Names are readily memorable and are the primary means by which people refer to things in their daily lives, whilst numbers are not so memorable.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided telecommunications services apparatus for use with a mobile telephone network, the apparatus being operable to receive text messages from mobile telephone terminals, the apparatus comprising means for recognising a characteristic of certain text messages indicating that those messages are to be processed according to a first function, and operable to pass on other text messages in accordance with a standard second function, means for processing the recognised text messages so as to extract an alphanumeric identifier from the body of the text message representing a desired delivery destination, means for translating the identifier into an email address, and means for converting the processed text message to an email format and for delivering the converted text message by email to the translated email address. According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a telecommunications services method for use with telecommunications services apparatus in a mobile telephone network, the apparatus being operable to receive text messages from mobile telephone terminals, the method comprising recognising a characteristic of certain text messages indicating that those messages are to be processed according to a first function, passing on other text messages in accordance with a standard second function, processing the recognised text messages so as to extract an alphanumeric identifier from the body of the text message representing a desired delivery destination, translating the identifier into an email address, converting the processed text message to an email format and delivering the converted text message by email to the translated email address.

Further aspects of the invention provide a computer program for carrying out the above method, and a storage medium on which such computer program is stored.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention allows the user to send a text message using a name, which may for example be the name of a brand, product, service or organisation. The name is specified in the body of the text message using a pre-defined syntax. For example, the name may be specified at the beginning of the text message body, delimited from any subsequent message by a defined character or characters, such as a space. The completed message is then sent to a service number which may preferably be a memorable short code, such as 111, or 622 (representing the associated key-letters M2B referring to a possible name for the service such as 'mobile2brand').

As an example the message "Debenhams Do you have a store in Birmingham" sent to 111 could be delivered automatically as an email to info@debenhams.com. A reply to this email would be delivered automatically back to the sending mobile phone. This scheme provides hugely increased connectivity between people that was not possible before, and connectivity is known to be a precursor to increased traffic. According to a still further aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for use with a mobile telephone network operable to receive text messages from mobile telephone terminals, to recognise characteristics of certain text messages that indicate that they are to be processed by the apparatus, and to pass other messages on for normal delivery, wherein the recognised text messages are processed to extract an alphanumeric identifier from the message body representing the desired delivery destination, the identifier is translated to an email address by means of a database or lookup table, and the processed message is converted to an email format and delivered by email to the translated email address, and further providing that a reply to the email is delivered to the sender' s mobile terminal.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the said translation of the identifier includes the capability to incorporate an algorithmic processing step for converting a short form part of an address to a long form part of an address.

Key advantages of the preferred embodiment of the invention over the prior art are that readily memorable names of almost any length may be used to send a text message to a company or brand name, without the user having to know a full email address or telephone number of the company. In the case of sending to a brand name, it is not even necessary to know the identity of the company. No correlation mechanism for replies is required in the network, and so no unique address range needs to be reserved for generating CLIs for this purpose. The technique provides a direct link between brand name owners and the general public, allowing companies to communicate directly with the public and to capture the CLIs of users who contact them or reply.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing (Figure 1) which shows a block diagram of telecommunications services apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the user of a mobile telephone is connected to a mobile network via a mobile switching centre (MSC) 1. Short messages originated by the user pass through an SMS router 2 or equivalent means for diverting certain messages. The SMS router 2 may, for example, by a Telsis (RTM) SMS Router, manufactured by Telsis Limited. This equipment is capable of connection to mobile telephone networks using known and standardised signalling protocols such as SS7 and TCP/IP. Using known signalling routing techniques, the network can arrange for SMS messages directed to the network's SMSC(s) to be routed by the SMS router to other destinations.

The SMS router 2 identifies certain messages according to their characteristics, and routes these messages to a message processing means 3. Other messages follow the normal path through the network and are delivered either directly to a destination MSC

7 or via a short message service centre (SMSC) 4 for store and forward delivery. The message processing means 3 is operable to extract a destination identifier from the message body and translate this to an email address using a lookup table or database (not shown), and to send the processed message via an email gateway 5 where the message is converted to email format and delivered via an email network to a recipient email system 6. The recipient email system 6 may generate an email reply, in which case this is delivered via the email gateway 5, which converts the reply to SMS format and passes it to the message processing means 3. The reply is then delivered to the originator either directly via the SMS router 2, or by a store and forward method using the SMSC 4.

The operation of the apparatus is now described in detail by means of a specific example. The example uses the apparatus to allow a mobile network subscriber to send a text message to a brand identity without knowing any telephone number or email address relating to the company that owns the brand.

In this example a mobile subscriber, perhaps prompted by advertising or a desire for current information, wishes to send a message to a company that manufactures a product called <CHOCOBAR>. The company name is <THE CHOCOLATE COMPANY> but the user is unaware of this. The user composes his message, which consists of the text <CHOCOBAR CURRENT COMPETITIONS ?> and sends it to the numeric address 111. The user's MSISDN CLI is referred to as <USERCLI> in the following text.

In this example the brand identity is separated from the message by a space character as a delimiter:

The message properties at this point are —

The text message is sent to the network via the MSC 1 and arrives at the SMS router 2. The SMS router 2 examines characteristics of the message and identifies this message as one of a class of messages that is to be directed to the message processing means 3. The characteristics that identify the message as such may be, for example, having a destination address of 111, although other characteristics may be taken into account. Local intelligence in the SMS router 2 or equivalent function may be used to make this decision, or alternatively a centralised resource such as a Service Control Point may be queried by the SMS router 2.

The message is then passed to the message processing means 3. The message processing means 3 determines that in this case the message indicates that the message is to be delivered by email to an address associated with <CHOCOBAR>. This determination may be made by means of a lookup table, database or other means. The message processing means 3 also determines the new origination address and destination email address to be used.

If the identifier were alternatively in the form prefix@h for example, an algorithmic translation could be used to convert this into a full address such as prefix@hotmail.com. Other types of translation are possible. Literals such as Debenhams (RTM) are shortforms and as prefix@h are examples of types of identifier that could advantageously be used, because they are both easy to remember for the user, and readily spotted and translated by the apparatus.

A new origination address is required in order to ensure that any reply returns via a desired route, which in this example is back through the message processing means 3. In order to avoid destroying the original identifier <CHOCOBAR>, the message processing means 3 may also store this in some way, although this is not essential. In this example the new origination address is created by including the user's CLI along with an email domain name corresponding to the email gateway, forming the address <USERCLI>@EMAILGATEWAYDOMAIN.COM> Many other suitable forms of address are possible.

A new destination address is required in order to deliver the message to an appropriate email address. Characteristics of the desired destination address may be looked up in a table or database using the identifier <CHOCOBAR>. In this example the new destination address is <SALES@THECHOCOLATECOMPANY.COM>.

The identifier <CHOCOBAR> could be prepended to the message content for the convenience of the recipient, but this is not essential. The message is now passed to the email gateway 5 where it is converted to email format and delivered via an email network to the recipient email system 6.

The message properties at this point are —

The primary purpose of the technique has now been demonstrated, which is to allow a user to deliver a message to an appropriate email address using only a text message and a brand name sent to a short code, and with no knowledge of company telephone numbers, company names or email addresses being required. Furthermore, the CLI of the sender is now available to <THE CHOCOLATE COMPANY>.

The secondary purpose of the technique is to permit a reply, or origination, path from organisations such as <THE CHOCOLATE COMPANY> to mobile subscribers. Using a reply to the previous case as an example, this works as follows.

An email reply consisting of text <CHOCOBAR COMPETITION, PLEASE REPLY WITH 'CHOCOBAR' FOLLOWED BY YOUR FULL NAME TO ENTER> is generated at <THE CHOCOLATE COMPANY>. This may then be sent using the normal reply facilities of standard email systems, whereby the origination address of a message is automatically used as the default reply address.

The reply properties at this point are —

This message arrives at the email gateway 5, is converted to SMS format and passed to the message processing means 3. The message addresses are then further transformed to be appropriate for the mobile telephone network, and to permit further reply by the user to 111. In this example, the user's telephone number is extracted from the email destination address. As an alternative, it would be possible to withhold the user's CLI from the email domain, and/or to store it in the apparatus. A unique reference identifier could be stored along with this, and included in the sender's email address, such that it is returned in the destination address of the email reply. The apparatus is then able to retrieve a matching identifier from its store and determine the corresponding user's CLI for delivering the reply to his mobile terminal. This method also allows the number of replies to be controlled, for example limiting this to one reply per original message. Other techniques are possible.

Continuing with the example, the reply properties at this point are —

111 is returned as the CLI of the reply, so that the user can easily send a further response.

Security issues are important for an email reply path, as with all systems that allow SMS messages to be initiated from the Internet. It is desirable for the mobile network operator to be able to authenticate traffic with a source address indicating for example <THE CHOCOLATE COMPANY> as genuinely originating from there. It is also desirable to be able to block unauthorised traffic from the Internet from obtaining access to mobile subscribers via the apparatus. Known prior art techniques such as digital signatures can be employed to provide the desired level of security. Using such techniques the mobile network is able to control and police the access to the apparatus. If desired, traffic arriving at the gateway may be restricted to replies to mobile originated messages, or alternatively, particular destinations may be allowed also to originate messages to subscribers.

In the preferred embodiment, spaces in the brand name would be supported even if the chosen delimiter between the addressed brand name and the message was a space. Brand name matching would be performed in such a way that the longest match found would be used. For example, the database might contain entries for

• marks

• marks&spencer • marksandspencer

• marks & spencer

• marks and spencer

Whichever of these options the user typed, the database would find the longest match, and any space within the brand name in these cases would not be treated as the delimiter.

Other transport mechanisms apart from email are possible. For example the apparatus could have a direct connection to certain organisations, or to third party service providers of a mobile telephone network, who might provide connectivity on behalf of the operator. Such interfaces might involve a wide area network other than email, for example using TCP/IP or another protocol.

In so far as the embodiments of the invention described above may be implemented, at least in part, using software-controlled processing apparatus, it will be appreciated that a computer program providing such software control and a storage medium by which such a computer program is stored are envisaged as aspects of the invention.

Claims

1. Telecommunications services apparatus for use with a mobile telephone network, the apparatus being operable to receive text messages from mobile telephone terminals, the apparatus comprising means for recognising a characteristic of certain text messages indicating that those messages are to be processed according to a first function, and operable to pass on other text messages in accordance with a standard second function, means for processing the recognised text messages so as to extract an alphanumeric identifier from the body of the text message representing a desired delivery destination, means for translating the identifier into an email address, and means for converting the processed text message to an email format and for delivering the converted text message by email to the translated email address.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, including message reply means for receiving a reply email message from the original destination email address, and for forwarding the reply email message to the message processing means for enabling translation of the reply destination address into the mobile telephone address of the originator of the original text message, and for converting the email message into mobile telephone text message format, for sending to the originator of the original text message.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the characteristic of the text message to be identified is a specific destination service number.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the specific destination service number is a short code number.

5. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the message processing means is operable to extract the alphanumeric identifier from a predetermined position in the text message.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined position is the start of the message.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the message processing means is operable to determine the end of the alphanumeric identifier as occurring upon detection of a predetermined character.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined character is a space character.

9. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the translating means includes means storing alphanumeric identifiers with corresponding email addresses.

10. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the translating means includes algorithmic processing means for converting a short form part of an address to a long form part of the address.

11. A telecommunications services method for use with telecommunications services apparatus in a mobile telephone network, the apparatus being operable to receive text messages from mobile telephone terminals, the method comprising recognising a characteristic of certain text messages indicating that those messages are to be processed according to a first function, passing on other text messages in accordance with a standard second function, processing the recognised text messages so as to extract an alphanumeric identifier from the body of the text message representing a desired delivery destination, translating the identifier into an email address, converting the processed text message to an email format and delivering the converted text message by email to the translated email address.

12. A method according to claim 11, including receiving a reply email message from the original destination email address, forwarding the reply email message for processing thereby enabling translation of the reply destination address into the mobile telephone address of the originator of the original text message, and converting the email message into mobile telephone text message format, for sending to the originator of the original text message.

13. A method according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the characteristic of the text message to be identified is a specific destination service number.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the specific destination service number is a short code number.

15. A method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the message processing step extracts the alphanumeric identifier from a predetermined position in the text message.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined position is the start of the message.

17. A method according to claim 15 or claim 16, wherein the message processing step determines the end of the alphanumeric identifier as occurring upon detection of a predetermined character.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein the predetermined character is a space character.

19. A method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein the translating step includes storing alphanumeric identifiers with corresponding email addresses.

20. A method according to any one of claims 11 to 19, wherein the translating step includes an algorithmic processing step for converting a short form part of an address to a long form part of the address.

21. A computer program for implementing a method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

22. A storage medium storing a computer program according to claim 21.