WO2006116881A1

WO2006116881A1 - Method and system for providing telephony greetings

Info

Publication number: WO2006116881A1
Application number: PCT/CA2006/000754
Authority: WO
Inventors: Cody W. Bly
Original assignee: Cameron, Allan
Priority date: 2005-05-05
Filing date: 2006-05-05
Publication date: 2006-11-09

Abstract

A system and method for customizing and delivering telephony greetings to a recipient is described. The system and method enable a customized voice greeting to be pre-selected and delivered to a recipient at a pre-scheduled time. The system enables a user to schedule personalized voice greetings for future delivery by telephone, cellular phone, or over the Internet, to one or more recipients. The system may be used by business clients to deliver information or greetings to clients or other businesses using an automated system, thereby reducing administrative time in making calls personally.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVTDTNG TELEPHONY GRRRTTNGS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of interactive systems for providing automated and pre-personalized greetings and/or messages. More particularly, the present invention relates to interactive systems in which users may customize greetings over the Internet and have them delivered to a recipient using various means, including telephony-based devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The printed greeting card industry is a $10+ Billion industry, with a few large companies commanding a staggering 85% of the market share. Greeting cards are available for nearly any conceivable purpose, including birthdays; anniversaries; calendar-based religious or national holidays; life events; encouragement; etc. Greeting cards are generally sent between individuals, or amongst groups of individuals.

In addition, many businesses use greeting cards or other pre-printed media to maintain communication with clients. For example, a dental clinic may send periodic printed reminders to clients to encourage regular appointments, or a salon may conduct mass mailings of printed documents promoting a particular service, or providing coupons or discounts to regular clients. Businesses may also wish to send holiday greetings to colleagues or business acquaintances. Although the greeting card/printed media industry is lucrative, a substantial portion of revenue is allocated to paper costs, printing costs and artists' costs, as well as advertising. These costs are passed on to the consumer, resulting in an average greeting card price of approximately $3 USD. With the penetration of the Internet into the majority of homes in North America, many consumers are seeking electronic alternatives to traditional greeting cards.

Electronic greeting cards and messaging services are available on the Internet through numerous providers. These are electronic files that can be sent to the recipient by email. Generally, e-cards are available for various events, religious and lifestyle persuasions, and are convenient in that the card or message can be pre-selected and personalized, and the sender may schedule the greeting for delivery on any specific date in the future. Although such electronic e-card services are generally free, or are available to consumers at minimal cost, these services require the message recipient to have an Internet connection, preferably an ADSL or Cable Internet connection. The initial appeal of these Internet-based services is fading, with many consumers avoiding the use of free online e- greeting services due to the overwhelming amounts of unwanted incoming email messages that typically result from registration for these "free" services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least one disadvantage of previous methods for delivering greetings cards. In accordance with the invention, there is provided a system for delivering a text or audio greeting to one or more recipients, the system comprising: a web-enabled user interface; a customization module enabling a user to select and customize a greeting for delivery to one or more recipients; and a delivery module for enabling delivery of the greeting to the one or more recipients over a telephone network or the internet. In further embodiments, the system further comprises a user account module enabling a user to establish and access a user account within the system and/or where the user account module includes a credit module for selling greeting credits to a user and storing greeting credits for the user.

In a further embodiment, the customization module enables a user to browse a menu of audio greetings; select a greeting; customize the greeting; provide contact information for delivery of the greeting to a recipient; and, select a desired delivery date for delivery of the greeting to the recipient utilizing credits stored in a user's account.

In a still further embodiment, the customization module enables one or more greetings to be delivered at one or more dates. The system may also enable a user to create a directory of user defined recipients and the menu of audible greetings may include categories of greetings for a variety of occasions. Audio greetings may also be set to music. In another embodiment, at least a portion of a customized audio greeting is assembled by the system based on customized text entered by the user. In another embodiment, the audio greeting is delivered in the voice of a known character or celebrity. In yet another embodiment, the delivery module enables: assembly of the audio file corresponding to the customized greeting; queuing the voice file for delivery by telephony to the recipient; confirmation of the delivery status of the customized greeting; and user notification as to the delivery status of the greeting. In another aspect of the invention, the invention provides a method of creating and delivering an audio or text greeting to a recipient comprising the steps of: providing a website interface within a greeting delivery system enabling a user to customize and deliver a greeting to one or more recipients over a telephone network or the internet.

In a further embodiment, the method further may further include the step of requiring a user to establish and access a user account within the system, selling greeting credits to a user and storing greeting credits for the user within a user account and/or enabling a user to browse a menu of audio greetings; select a greeting; customize the greeting; provide contact information for delivery of the greeting to a recipient; and, select a desired delivery date for delivery of the greeting to the recipient utilizing credits stored in a user ' s account.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a greeting selection and customization method for use in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a greeting management system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a greeting delivery system for use in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, the present invention provides a method and system for selecting, personalizing, and delivering automated greetings.

More specifically, the present invention provides a system through which a user may register, purchase greeting credits, select appropriate greetings for delivery to one or more recipients, and personalize each greeting, if desired. The user can then set appropriate delivery dates and times for each greeting, and each greeting will be delivered by the system accordingly. For example, an individual with a large extended family may use the system to pre-select and personalize birthday greetings for each of his family members for delivery on the birthdays of each individual family member, thereby avoiding the cost and effort associated with periodically sending paper greeting cards to each family member by mail.

Greeting Selection Process

With reference to Figure 1, a user may use an Internet connection to access system 10. The system 10 may be managed by equipment well-known in the art, so as to interact with a web-enabled user interface.

A pre-registered user may access the web-enabled user interface, log in and begin browsing and customizing greetings 11. If the user has not previously registered with the system, the user will do so through the sign up tool 12. An unregistered user may be permitted to browse available greetings, but must register or log in to customize and send greetings through the system.

Once a greeting has been selected, the user may choose to send the greeting(s), which will prompt the system to determine whether sufficient credits 12 exist in the user's account to send the greeting. If insufficient credits are present, the user will be prompted 14 to purchase credits 15, which may be offered in packages (eg. 10 credits for $9.95, 25 credits for $19.95, 75 credits for $49.95, etc). Once credits have been used to purchase the greetings desired by the user, the system may request confirmation of the greeting 13 by playing the complete greeting for the user. The user may proceed to schedule delivery of the greeting 16, save the greeting to the saved greetings menu 17, or edit the greeting 18. Sign Up Tool 12

During registration, a user may be asked to provide a wide range of information, which may include name, email address, telephone number, password selection, etc. The user may select a package or level of service, and may set personal preferences, for example, relating to receipt of notifications, updates, or promotions offered through the system. The user may also indicate whether he or she wishes to be contacted by the system for the purpose of surveys or other promotions, which may result in the user receiving free greeting credits. Method for Browsing and Customizing Greetings 11 When a user browses the website to select or preview greetings, the system may display a list of the most popular greetings, and/or the user may browse through lists of pre-recorded greetings. The greetings may be categorized, for example: Birthday, Christmas, Congratulations, Flirts, Get Well, Inspirational, Insults, Love, Miss You, Stress Relief, Thank you, Wake-up Calls, etc. When a user selects a category, all of the available greetings within that category will appear, which may be previewed by the user. For example, selection of a "Play" function may allow the user to listen to an MP3 file of an audible greeting. The greetings may be set to music, and in one embodiment, the user may select the background music that will play during delivery of the greeting.

Once the user has selected a greeting, the user may customize or personalize the greeting. For example, if the user is a salon owner, the user may wish to customize an introduction to say, "Dear loyal customer", and to include the salon name as the sender. Alternatively, if the user is an individual sending a Mother's Day greeting to his wife, he may customize the introduction to say "To my darling Jennifer from your loving husband". Further, a secret admirer may elect to customize a greeting to the recipient, but choose not to have any sender information given in the greeting. The user may store a list of customized introductions, and may also store a list of recipients so as to be easily accessible for later use.

In a preferred embodiment, the greeting is delivered to the recipient by telephone or other means of audible communication, such as a .wav file delivered over the Internet. In this audible delivery embodiment, the customized greeting may include the sender's voice in part or all of the greeting. For example, during customization, the text of the selected greeting could be displayed for the user to read into the system via a microphone or telephone, or the user could record their own, unique greeting without choosing a preset greeting from the system.

Alternatively, the preset greetings within the system may be pre-recorded or created in the voice of various characters or celebrities, and the sender could add further text to customize the message, which would be delivered in the same character or celebrity voice. Methods for assembling voice files are known in the art, and could be delivered by the system, as described below.

Once the user has personalized or customized the greeting, the user may save the greeting to the "My Greetings Menu" 17, or may send 16 or edit 18 the greeting. Send Greetings Function 16

In order to send a greeting to a recipient, the user must select a method of delivery, and must provide instructions for delivery to the desired recipient(s). The user may choose to send the greeting immediately, or may select a schedule for delivery of the greeting to the recipient(s). Greetings may be delivered by various means, such as by standard telephone, over the Internet, by voice messaging, to a cellular or satellite telephone etc. The recipient contact information may be specifically entered by the user, or the user may upload a telephone list or provide a directory service as a source of named or anonymous recipients.

The greeting may be scheduled by the user for delivery to the recipient by identifying the desired date(s) and time(s) for delivery. If the greeting is to be delivered to more than one recipient, the dates of delivery to each recipient may be independently selected by the user. To simplify delivery of greetings by the system, it is preferable that greetings be delivered only in specific increments of time. For example, the user may select the delivery time in 15 minute increments, which will schedule delivery of the message within the selected 15 minute time window.

In one embodiment, the system may not actually deliver the voice greeting, but may deliver to the recipient a telephone number and access code to allow the recipient to access the voice greeting by telephone. In this embodiment, the telephone number and access code may be delivered by email, text messaging, or other means. In another embodiment, the user may also be the recipient, and the system is used to provide periodic inspirational greetings or stress relief voice messages to the user. In a further embodiment, the user may enter a list of important dates, and use the system to deliver telephony reminders of these dates to himself so that these important dates are not forgotten.

My Greetings Menu 17

When the user logs into the system 10, the user may proceed to the My Greetings Menu 17. As shown in Figure 2, this menu may contain saved greetings 21, greetings that have been customized and scheduled for delivery 22, and greetings that have been sent previously by the system 23.

Saved Greetings Menu 21

Within the Saved Greetings Menu 21, the user may view greetings that have previously been saved. These greetings may or may not be customized, and the user may use this menu to store favourite or commonly used greetings, or may simply select various appealing greetings that may be customized and scheduled at a later time. Recipient lists may also be stored in this menu. Any greeting in this menu may be further edited or customized, new or additional recipients may be added, and the saved greeting may be scheduled for delivery, at which time the scheduled greeting would be moved by the system into the Scheduled Greeting Menu 22.

It is preferable that the Saved Greetings Menu 21 contains all of the Greetings that have been saved, customized, or sent by the user. The user would then have the option of editing 24 the greetings, or deleting 25 any of the greetings from this menu. The Saved Greetings Menu 21 will be particularly useful to business users, who may send out identical messages at various times of the year. For example, a dental office may send appointment reminders to clients a day in advance of the client appointment. The Saved Greetings Menu may therefore contain certain standard greetings such that minimal customization is necessary prior to delivery of each individual greeting. In this scenario, the office administrator may easily select the greeting from the Saved Greetings Menu 21, and may edit 24 the greeting to add a recipient list such that all greetings or appointment reminders will be sent to clients with upcoming appointments. The scheduled greetings would be saved to the Scheduled Greetings Folder 22, while the basic greeting would remain in the Saved Greetings Menu 21 for use with another group of recipients. In one embodiment, the system may link to the business user's internal database in order to automate the process of customizing and scheduling greetings for delivery to appropriate recipients. Scheduled Greetings Menu 22

Within the Scheduled Greetings Menu 22, the user may view all scheduled greetings, and may cancel 26 or edit 27 any of the greetings.

Sent Greetings Menu 23 The Sent Greetings Menu displays all previously sent greetings, as well as any errors or problems encountered by the system in delivering each greeting. If a greeting was not delivered successfully, the system may be configured to attempt to resend the greeting a certain number of times, after which the greeting will be displayed in the Sent Greetings Menu as a failed delivery. The user may edit such failed greetings to determine the source of the failure, and may reschedule 28 the greeting for delivery.

In addition to displaying the sent status of a greeting in the Sent Greetings Menu 23, the user may wish to be notified once each greeting is sent. Such notice may be provided to the user by email, instant messaging, etc. Greeting Delivery System Voice greetings may be delivered by telephone to the desired recipient in accordance with the method shown in Figure 3. Generally, a voice file may be assembled from the user-customized digital greeting file according to methods known in the art. For example, the greeting text may be parsed to convert the text to a voice file, which will be created in the voice desired by the user, if applicable, and any background music may be added to the file. The system will then queue the file for delivery according to the delivery method selected by the user.

For example, if the desired delivery method is by telephone, the system 10 may send the greeting file to an electronic call management system, such as IVRnet™ for delivery. A process for such delivery is shown in Figure 3, in which the system website sends an XML file to a FTP site hosted by the electronic call management system 31. The XML file is parsed 32 for the phone number and to assemble the voice file, converting the text to speech using appropriate technology, such as Neospeech™. The electronic call management system queues and prioritizes 33 the voice file for delivery. Calls are distributed 34 through the call system, and are delivered, following which the delivery status is confirmed 35 to the user through the system website via the Sent Greetings Menu 23 or otherwise. The system may further include additional features to optimize delivery of greetings to the recipients when greetings are delivered by telephone, such as identity confirmation, detection of automated answering services, etc. Such features will ensure that greetings are delivered to the recipient in as personal a manner as possible.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations may be effected to the particular embodiments by those of skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the claims appended hereto.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A system for delivering a greeting to one or more recipients, the system comprising: a web-enabled user interface; a customization module enabling a user to select and customize a greeting for delivery to one or more recipients; and a delivery module for enabling delivery of the greeting to the one or more recipients over a telephone network or the internet.

2. A system as in claim 1 wherein the greeting is an audio greeting.

3. A system as in any one of claims 1-2 wherein the system further comprises a user account module enabling a user to establish and access a user account within the system.

4. A system as in claim 3 wherein the user account module includes a credit module for selling greeting credits to a user and storing greeting credits for the user.

5. A system as in any one of claims 1-4 wherein the customization module enables a user to browse a menu of audio greetings; select a greeting; customize the greeting; provide contact information for delivery of the greeting to a recipient; and, select a desired delivery date for delivery of the greeting to the recipient utilizing credits stored in a user's account.

6. A system as in any one of claims 1-5 wherein the customization module enables one or more greetings to be delivered at one or more dates.

7. A system as in any one of claims 1-6 wherein the customization module enables a greeting to be customized by a user speaking into a microphone operatively connected to a user's computer.

8. A system as in any one of claims 1-7 wherein the customization module enables conversion of a greeting to an audio file through text-to-speech conversion.

9. A system as in any one of claims 3-8 wherein a user account enables a user to create a directory of user defined recipients.

10. A system as in any one of claims 5-9 wherein the menu of audible greetings includes categories of greetings for a variety of occasions.

1 1. A system as in any one of claims 2-10 wherein audio greetings are set to music selected by the user.

12. A system as in any one of claims 2-11 wherein at least a portion of a customized audio greeting is assembled by the system based on customized text entered by the user.

13. A system as in any one of claims 2-12 wherein the audio greeting is delivered in the voice of a known character or celebrity.

14. A system as in any one of claims 2-13 wherein the delivery module enables: assembly of the audio file corresponding to the customized greeting; queuing the voice file for delivery by telephony to the recipient; confirmation of the delivery status of the customized greeting; and user notification as to the delivery status of the greeting.

15. A system as in any one of claims 1-14 wherein a greeting is delivered to the recipient as a telephone number and access code to allow the recipient to access the greeting by telephone.

16. A system as in claim 15 wherein the telephone number and access code are delivered by any one of email, text messaging, or voice mail.

17. A method of creating and delivering a greeting to a recipient comprising the steps of: providing a website interface within a greeting delivery system enabling a user to customize and deliver a greeting to one or more recipients over a telephone network or the internet.

18. A method as in claim 17 wherein the greeting is an audio greeting.

19. A method as in any one of claims 17-18 further comprising the step of requiring a user to establish and access a user account within the system.

20. A method as in any one of claims 17-19 further comprising the step of selling greeting credits to a user and storing greeting credits for the user within a user account.

21. A method as in any one of claims 17-20 further comprising the steps of enabling a user to browse a menu of audio greetings; select a greeting; customize the greeting; provide contact information for delivery of the greeting to a recipient; and, select a desired delivery date for delivery of the greeting to the recipient utilizing credits stored in a user's account.